Future Imperfect
by Acidbuk
Summary: Life in Tokyo 3 after third impact went on, people lived and died, loved and lost but for one man this wasn’t how things were meant to be, one man believed he could change the fate of the world
1. 2035 AD

**Author**: Acidbuk.

**Title**: Future Imperfect

**Summary**: Life in Tokyo 3 after third impact went on, people lived and died, loved and lost but for one man this wasn't how things were meant to be, one man believed he could change the fate of the world

**Rating**: the rating formally known as PG-13 now known as T…do I actually write happy stories anymore?

**Disclaimer**: You should know this by now but guess what? I don't own Eva be thankful.

**Future Imperfect**

It was late, very late but that didn't matter to either occupant of Laboratory they were sat in, the glare of the computer screens the only light source in the large room filled with electronic equipment, pulled wiring, components and computers that reached from floor to ceiling.

The MAGI had survived third impact, though survived might not be the correct word for it, even though they had no real life force the organic components within them had turned to LCL when Lilith, the mother of life had called all souls to her. The very essence of the machines that being the pseudo soul Naoko Akagi was taken from them so they now lay dormant and done for 20 years, eventually being replaced by the 8 huge super computers that stood in the room.

Kensuke Aida entered the large lab complex and depressed a wall switch; electrical current flew through the old wiring within mere milliseconds bringing the overhead fluorescent lights to life with a short flicker.

"Did you find her?" Said one of the two people working at a desk without looking up from whatever he was doing.

"I found her", Kensuke replied feeling almost sick to his stomach that it had to be him to go find her, they never were and never would be friends even after all that had happened she was still the most stubborn, arrogant and annoying person he had ever the misfortune to meet.

"Good, Will she do it?" replied the second person, again not stopping to look around as she furiously typed away at her keyboard mumbling something incoherent about a fractal wave form to her co-worker.

"She said she'll help, but really it wasn't easy. Your lucky we're friends Shinji, or I wouldn't have gone to talk to her", Kensuke answered the now much older Ikari who finally turned to face him. His hair had grown out from how it was when he was a teenager to look more like his fathers and he eyes while still cobalt blue were empty inside, Kensuke wondered just how much of his friend was left after Third Impact. He guessed not much as the boy had grown up, had been forced to grow up the moment the survival of the world was put on his shoulders and that weight had never really been taken away.

"Thank you Kensuke, you know I appreciate it", he said with a small smile turning back to his work. It must have been the first time in months he'd seen Shinji smile, Kensuke looked over to the other occupant of the room. Maya Ibu…no Ikari, Kensuke mentally corrected himself he'd never really got used to the idea of his best friend and Maya being a couple. There wasn't anything wrong with it, but it was just a case of he'd never seen in coming let alone lasting this long and Marriage had been way out there.

She was still the same Maya, he thought absently remembering the first time he met the then much younger technician after nearly costing Shinji his life with the fourth angel. Yes, still the same Maya with the same "Boyish" haircut and carefree attitude, maybe that's what attracted her to Shinji.

To Shinji she was most definitely his rock, his grounding place; perhaps the only stable thing in his life, he loved her dearly for everything she was to him and more and to Maya, Shinji was the loving caring person she always wanted. He was still the same Shinji he had been 21 years ago, caring and kind but only around her, only for her and never aloud.

Maya couldn't help the rose tint that appeared on her cheeks as she noticed Kensuke looking at her; he had grown so much too. His hair though longer was the same style and his rounded glasses had been replaced with a pair of shaded ones hiding his eyes, the blue shirt and black trousers he wore went well with his black leather jacket.

It was then that the Lab door opened once again this time though it was a woman entering into the Lab. Her red trench coat came just down to below her knees, left arm entirely silver obviously a prosthetic, wearing sunglasses to cover her eyes and although it only now came to just below her chin, she still had the same fiery orange hair.

"Really Shinji, I don't know why you want her to go with you, I'm quite capable you know", Kensuke chimed off deliberately trying to annoy the red headed woman.

Shinji knew what he was trying to do and thought it best to silence his friend before any kind of incident happened in his lab, after all it was filled with delicate equipment.

"She doesn't have a son to worry about or a wife to grow old with Kensuke", Shinji replied simply. Kensuke nodded knowing his long time friend spoke the truth he did indeed have a beautiful wife and son but one thought seemed to jump to his mind and he found himself opening his mouth and words coming out without stopping at his brain first.

"But…if your successful, they might not even exist", Kensuke had said and the face of his friend instantly changed, Shinji turned back to his work not bothering to reply to the statement.

Asuka said nothing and simply watched the exchange of words and glances between the two, "So when do we go? Should I pack?" she finally asked not sure exactly what was going to happen, while her mother had been the scientist, Asuka had instead embraced her more primal fighting side.

"We go, as soon as we have enough power", Shinji stated not looking up from the documents in front of him and not seeing fit to give her a further explanation.

"So…it doesn't work?" Asuka asked still unclear on the situation.

Shinji sighed deciding it was easier to show her than tell her as actions with Asuka undoubtedly spoke louder and more clearer that words one glance at Maya and she knew what he was planing, saving what she was working on she began start-up procedure.

"Initiating stage 1 start-up", Maya Spoke; "unlocking all inhibitors and increasing reactor output"

"Bringing computer systems online" Shinji replied as all the controls and lights on the device at the very front of the lab came to life as did the 8 Super computers behind him.

"Initiating stage 2", Maya stated "Calculating Tachyon stream and co-ordinates for temporal insertion"

"I have a temporal lock, target date, 2015AD, Tokyo 3"; Shinji shot back a second later.

"Confirmed, Tachyon stream is stable, bringing reactor to full power for Final stage"

"Confirmed, reading reactor at 100 capacity, all systems are green across the board"

"Initiating final stage, removing final safety locks"

"Roger, temporal insertion in, five…four…three...two…one"

As the count down reached zero there was a loud crack like a sonic boom in the lab as the ring like device with all the hoses wiring and computers coming off it in the far end of the lab glowed bright red. Then in its centre a whirlpool of black and white light started to form then a second later it was gone as every computer, light and electrical device shut down and restarted at least thirty seconds later.

Asuka watched in stunned silence for this was her first time witnessing the event, or any such event like this for that matter but as the shock wore off one question seemed to sit on her mind.

"So it doesn't work?" Asuka repeated.

Shinji and Maya sighed in unison,

"It works just fine" Shinji began; "we just don't have enough power" Maya finished.

"But I thought this place was powered by its own nuclear reactor", Asuka spoke, recalling some of the facts she had been forced to learn about the formally NERV operated facility

"All the reactors in Japan wouldn't be enough", they once again both said in perfect unison.

"That's…creepy" Asuka stated at the way Shinji and Maya did that; "They're in Love, what can you do", Kensuke replied Asuka simply nodded.

"So…" Asuka began getting back to the subject at hand; "what can we use to power it?" she asked fearing the insanely geeky reply she would get.

"Maybe an artificial quasar or quantum singularity" Shinji stated.

"Or…an artificial sun", Maya tagged on.

Asuka it seemed was getting frustrated with the two removing her sunglasses to rub one of her now mismatched eyes obviously her left was now a prosthetic having had it taken from her by one of the Mass Produced Eva units.

"Well why don't we just go down to the local supermarket and pick one of those up" she said sarcastically. "Jeez you two I wish Ritsuko was here, she may have been a pain in the arse but she managed to power the Eva's I'm sure SHE could figure this out".

Shinji and Maya looked thunderstruck by Asuka's words as if she had just told them she was the virgin mother of Christ, they both looked at each other with a suddenly broad grin; "An S2 ENGINE!" they yelled.

They both ran out of the lab barely stopping for the door to open neither of them explaining what was happening.

"Any ideas stooge?" Asuka asked to Kensuke.

"Not one Red", he replied.

(0 0 0)

Asuka rubbed her temples as she looked over the notes Shinji and Maya had put together on the latest plan, it wasn't that she was stupid or dumb she was actually quite an astute and smart woman. However this was very much Shinji and Maya's child and she couldn't say she understood a word of the notes, she looked over to Kensuke who seemed to be having the same problem.

"…So as you can see from diagram A, an S2 Engine will give almost limitless power for the insertion field…" Maya had spoken but out of the entire sentence Asuka picked out two words that seemed to jump at her as she remembered something from almost 20 years ago.

"Didn't the second NERV branch explode because they were playing with an S2 Engine? And where exactly are we going to get one anyway, I mean all the angels are dead and with Eva gone..." Asuka trailed off leaving the question to hang in the air.

Silence descended onto the room for several minutes with neither Shinji nor Maya saying a word but it was Shinji who eventually broke the silence; "well, second branch didn't really explode as such…and the angels aren't technically dead…"

Asuka interrupted Shinji "come on Shinji, admit it, we kicked their arse?" she stated with a grin and Shinji himself couldn't help but chuckle…how long had it been since he did that…he wondered.

With Shinji lost in thought, Maya jumped in – "we'll use Second branch's S2 Engine".

A look of 'Huh?' appeared on everyone's face, Shinji's included he had no idea how she was planning to do that as the second Branch was indeed lost, all 2000 men and women at the facility also presumed dead.

"An Anti-AT field" Maya clarified, Shinji pondered this for a moment and then nodded in understanding Asuka and Kensuke still looked confused.

"An AT field have you lost your minds? The only thing that can generate one is an Angel or an Eva, Unit 00 blew itself up, Unit02 was ripped apart by Mass Produced Eva units…" Asuka paused at that rather painful memory absently rubbing her prosthetic arm; "and unit01 disintegrated into…nothingness" she finished.

Maya and Shinji nodded, Maya opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by Shinji before she could start "That's…not entirely it Asuka, unit 01…wasn't completely destroyed"

He let this news settle in before continuing; "five years ago, we found…part of unit 01, just some of the torso and its head, the rest had been vaporised and its S2 Engine was inoperable but...it's core was intact Asuka…my mother"

Asuka nodded in understanding knowing if she had the chance to save her mother, she would have done exactly the same as Shinji.

"So, we use Unit01's AT field to neutralise the…sea of Dirac?" Asuka asked remembering the term Maya had used both nodding in reply. The plan now outlined, all that remained was to execute it.

(0 0 0)

The break room was sparse by anyone standards, its walls were white and grey, while the chairs and tables were simple steel not built for comfort and several vending machines lined the walls. Asuka sat there starting at the ceiling as if her look would some how make it distort and give her the answers she needed.

Asuka remembered when she woke up after third impact, on the beach that day the sky red as blood, the decaying body of a giant Rei Ayanami floating in a sea of LCL as the green crosses ascended to the heavens. Shinji had tried to kill her that day and she knew she deserved it, welcoming his wrath with open arms she did not put up a fight against the young man as he wrapped his hands around her throat and squeezed.

She could clearly see the hatred and anger burning in his eyes and she knew it was her fault but she found more recently she preferred those dark eyes filled with rage to the currently empty ones he has. She could tell by looking into those empty eyes that Shinji was like a body that had lost its soul so long ago, only the mind hadn't caught up yet.

I should be dead, she told herself, I should be dead, he should have finished it, I don't deserve to be here but at least now I have a chance to make things right, it just took me 20 years to realise it.

She never noticed the door quietly open and Shinji step inside quietly watching her, "How's the prosthetics?" he asked.

"Better than the real thing, I'm stronger and I can see better than most normal humans but I wish you'd got my eye the right colour", she said absently still staring at the ceiling as if it would herald some kind of epiphany. She understood now why Shinji would spend countless hours doing this in his youth, wondering why it took her 20 years to reach this place.

"I'm sorry, just did what I could with what I had", Shinji apologised.

"I know", Asuka replied simply.

Seeing she was not in the mood to talk Shinji headed to the door to leave but turned one more time to speak to Asuka; "We fly to Nevada first thing tomorrow, you ok with that?" he asked.

"Yeah" was her only response and with that, he left.

Asuka's thoughts once again returned to just after Third impact, she had passed out for three days, waking up she was being dragged on something. It was like long board she assumed was a stretcher that had two long cables running off and over Shinji's shoulders he was pulling her along.

It was incredible; Shinji was incredible for hours he pulled her along not stopping for anything, he was relentless refusing to let his body give up. The protector and protected, the strong and the weak had reversed rolls, Asuka was now the one being protected by Shinji and for the first time in her life she didn't find that totally disgusting.

Shinji was no longer the weak coward she teased just days before, he was a sorrowful man, angry at the world and with determination she had only seen in his father.

Her thoughts turned to Maya, she couldn't say she had paid much thought to the brown haired 'bridge bunny' until after third impact. They had found her cowering under a desk on what was once the command bridge in NERV HQ muttering over and over something incoherent about 'sempai' who Asuka assumed was Ritsuko, it had taken weeks to get her to stop and slowly come back to reality. It was shock she guessed that in any normal situation she would have been committed but third impact was far from normal.

Maya and Shinji had quickly become friends and she seemed to stick to him like glue going where ever he did as if scared that somehow it was all a dream and we would just vanish if he left her sight. It was slightly creepy when she thought about it, Maya even followed him to the bathroom, she enjoyed Asuka's company also but it had been Shinji who brought the woman out of her self so they shared a special bond.

It was hardly surprising to Asuka when she found out they were in a relationship but somehow it hurt just as much as if she didn't expect it at all.

"You had your chance Asuka, you screwed it up" she said to herself as her thoughts turned towards the stooge, Kensuke. He had grown a lot too and with each passing year his personality changed from geeky high school kid into something that was akin to Kaji, in fact the brown-haired stooge was more like Kaji now than Asuka cared to think about.

"I need some sleep," Asuka said as she stood to exit the break room pushing all thoughts out of her mind about the three people she had come to call her closest friends and thoughts of her past and her mistakes. Heading to her room where she would sleep soundly till morning for the first time in years.

(0 0 0)

Shinji and Maya regarded each other in the pale moonlight of their room, the clouds still had a red haze to them even now, only the left side of there respective faces was lit, the rest cast in shadow. Even now though much older and a little greyer Shinji believed she was truly the most beautiful woman in the world.

Their lips touched softly and soundlessly, passion flowing from them like wine at a banquet; they bathed in each other's aura and unbridled love for each other. A love that could not be broken by time or matched by any other force in the universe not even by the gods themselves, losing themselves in the passion, the moment, the very essence of life and in each other. That night Maya and Shinji made love like it was the last time they ever would and in all likely hood it would be…

Continued.

**Notes**: Pre-read was done by Buzz who is a god among men and says "well that was rather good" I thank you. There will be more to this of course though Red sky and Suzuka's secrets are top priority right now. I have found a new paragraph separator that I hope quick edit likes a line of dashes don't seen to be acceptable, thank you quick edit.


	2. The Boy from the Future

**Chapter 2: The Boy from the Future**

The long dull engine sound from outside filled even the soundproofed interior of the jet black stealth transport-airliner currently flying over the Pacific Ocean towards what was formally the United States. Maya and Shinji rested peacefully in one of the seats up ahead and Kensuke was sat to her right over the opposite side of the craft leaving Asuka alone with her thoughts once more.

The battered, burned and beaten remains of unit one sat in the planes cargo area, Asuka wondered if it was truly aware of what happened to it, after all it did have the soul of Shinji's mother within, could she feel pain? Did she know she had lost eighty percent of her body?

Asuka looked at her arm, its dull sliver and chrome shining under the reading light above her seat, she had gone almost nuts when she found out she had lost her arm and her eye. How could she deal with losing so much of her body like unit 01 had, the simple fact was she knew that she couldn't.

She wanted to sleep but somehow couldn't, shouldn't, she knew she might only be in America for a matter of hours, it was only a case of bringing unit 01 to the site of second branch, focusing the Anti AT field and they were done. 'Only' she thought she's starting to sound like Maya.

The rest of the flight passed for Asuka in silence not allowing herself to think of anything else and letting sleep claim her.

(0 0 0)

When Asuka awoke, the black airliner had already touched down and unit 01 was being unloaded by the automated systems onboard. Shinji and Maya were discussing something she didn't understand but for the first time in a god knows how long Shinji looked worried. Asuka stood from her admittedly comfortable seat and approached the two catching the tail end of the convocation.

"I'm just a little worried you know…its been so many years Maya", Shinji spoke

"You'll do fine ok? You have all of us behind you Shinji", Maya replied and Shinji smiled; "I'm gonna go set up the equipment ready, Love you" Maya said quickly giving Shinji a quick kiss on the lips before departing.

The pill of regret and bitterness forming in the pit of Asuka's stomach, that could have been her, should have been her…saying those words of encouragement and whispering I love you. It would have been her had she only the foresight all those years ago to see the man inside the boy.

"You ok Shinji?" she asked as he looked off distantly onto the tarmac, watching as the automated trolleys moved Unit01's remains away from the aircraft fuselage and to where it had to be.

"It's been so long since I've piloted Asuka"; Shinji spoke quietly despite Maya's love and attention he was still worried.

"Hey Shinji, its like falling off a bike, you never forget", Asuka said simply mock punching him in the arm.

"Falling off a bike…surely you mean riding?" Shinji asked.

"I know what I said, jeez for such a smart guy your such an idiot sometimes Shinji" Asuka spoke poking out her tongue before descending onto the tarmac knowing full well Shinji was smarter than she was.

Shinji sighed he would never understand women, least of all Asuka, Kaji had once told him understanding women was like trying to reach a distant shore, no mater how close you get your still so far away. Little did he know how right he was, Shinji thought fondly of the unshaven rouge thinking it would be good to see him again.

(0 0 0)

Shinji sat alone in the entry plug of Unit 01, the monster that had for so many years claimed possession of his mother's soul. He couldn't believe he was back in Unit 01 after all these years, after countless times the purple behemoth had almost killed him he swore that if he ever came back, it would finish the job but here he was.

"Shinji, we're going to start up, you okay?" Maya asked over the communications system installed in Unit 01.

"Yeah Maya, I'm fine, just a little nervous", Shinji replied honestly, this was her idea and while he believed whole heatedly in her, he didn't honestly know if this was going to work,

Maya typed at her keyboard entering a list of commands a mile long and Kensuke did likewise. While he didn't understand all the science behind Eva, Kensuke excelled at computers and while he certainly couldn't build an Eva, he had enough know how and was tech-savvy enough to operate the systems needed to activate one.

"Beginning first stage activation" Maya said over the Comm-link. As LCL started to fill the entry plug, Shinji tried to relax and clear his mind of any absent thoughts prior to activation,

"All systems are green, Primary nerve connections online proceeding to stage two", This time Kensuke chimed in.

"Second stage activation" Maya said as multicolour light surrounded Shinji briefly before changing to transparent giving him a view of the outside world through the Eva's 'eyes'

"This is where things might get bumpy Shinji, with all the damage to Unit 01", Maya spoke with concern evident in her voice.

"Roger", Shinji replied coolly.

"Proceeding to third stage activation", Kensuke spoke.

Shinji could feel his arms and legs go dead as if there weren't there, and he left side go numb only able to feel his upper chest and head, he knew they must be activating the final nerve connectors.

"Approaching absolute borderline", Maya chimed in once again then seconds later with; "Borderline cleared all connections are green we have activation".

Unit 01's eyes shone emerald green as it activated unable to move due to the extensive damage to her body. She could feel Shinji inside her once again, synchronised with her soul, she could feel what Shinji felt, the pain, the loss, the sorrow, the love and the hate, it was all there, the anger at Gendo Ikari, the desire to change, everything. Unit 01 and its pilot were in unity.

"Ok Shinji I want you to focus your Anti AT field okay" Maya spoke.

Unit 01 complied with Shinji's very thought almost the instant he thought it and began to manifest its AT field the familiar hexagonal shaped chains forming in front of her which was technically above her as she was laying on her back. As it began to get stronger, Unit01 reversed its polarity to an Anti-AT field to neutralise the one currently in effect and open the sea of Dirac.

"AT Field is at 55 and rising, pilot sync is at 48" Kensuke reported to Maya and Shinji alike as they worked with the open communications channel.

Shinji concentrated further on strengthening the AT field and Unit 01 complied giving as much strength as she could muster for her son, "AT field at 78 and still rising"

A black dot appeared below Unit 01, which expanded and spread with incredible speed, like a spillage of water on a flat surface the black shadow spread out in all directions with every percent rise in Unit 01's anti-AT field

"Anti-AT field is at 120 of normal, we should cross the threshold any second now"", Maya spoke into the Communication link, Shinji too lost in concentration to listen to the minute by minute report. It was taking everything Shinji had to keep Unit 01's anti-AT field up and steady.

There was an unholy bang and deafening screech as Unit 01 broke the threshold, the sea of Dirac cracked and broken in every direction with Unit 01 at its epicentre. The ground shook violently with Maya, Kensuke and Asuka holding onto the very equipment that they were using to monitor Shinji with to stay upright

Shinji felt the and heard the screams of a two thousand men and women as the screen that had imprisoned them for almost 20 years broke apart and shattered like glass. Unit 01 rising high into the sky, its AT field far above any normal tolerance as a sphere of white light surrounded it and expanded outwards in every direction encompassing everything touching the hearts and souls of every man woman and child on earth. Its golden wings spread like an angels and then it was gone. Unit 01 started its free fall from 100ft in the air, towards the ground impacting with a mighty crash onto the main artificial lawn of Second branch.

Unit 01 went silent and ejected Shinji Ikari;

"Thank you…mother"

NERV employees looked about at the sight before them and at each other not entirely sure what had happened, the entire facility had been restored to how it was prior to the accident with Unit 04's S2 Engine.

Shinji, Maya Kensuke and Asuka all looked on are awe at the NERV second branch headquarters; this was certainly going to be hard to explain.

(0 0 0)

Several hours of debriefing and several thousand Tera-quads of data later, the scientists at second branch understood what had happened and how, to them it was like stepping out of a bad dream, they didn't even know they were gone let alone for so long.

The four individuals starred at the massive white and silver beast held in the Eva cage known as Unit 04, it was similar to Unit 03 but more angular and akin to the Mass Produced models than either prototype or test type Evangelions.

"So that's it?" Asuka said staring at the surprisingly small bio-mechanical power plant known as the "S2 Engine" attached to the back of the neck of Unit 04.

"That's it" Both Maya and Shinji said in perfect unison.

"I thought it would be bigger", Kensuke chimed in not really knowing what to expect.

Maya and Shinji both laughed.

The S2 Engine was certainly small, compared to the size of an Eva anyway but it held more power than all the suns in the universe.

(0 0 0)

The flight back to the former NERV Lab was uneventful with his mother's soul no long inside Unit 01, the purple machine was silent and unable to activate, they had transported Eva Unit 04 back with them in the NERV stealth airliner along with a crew from second branch.

It now stood in the Eva cage back at Tokyo 3, while a team of scientists ran huge industrial cables from its S2 Engine and into the Lab where they needed the power.

"So you're really going through with this huh?" Kensuke asked his long time friend as he stared at the men and women in orange jump suits rigging up the cables.

"Don't have much of a choice", Shinji replied.

Kensuke smiled, "Hey Shinji, you don't mind if I take off do you…if we're going to fade away into nothingness, I'd like to spend time with my wife" Kensuke spoke looking over to Shinji who seemed to have a distant look in his eyes.

"Of course", Shinji said nodding in understanding as Kensuke turned on his heel and headed out of the lab.

"She married you once old friend, I'm sure she'll marry you again", Shinji spoke to no-one but himself as he continued to watch the tech crew go about their business. He didn't need to but he liked to make sure everything was perfect, one mistake and they could undo history the wrong way.

Shinji and Maya had run countless computer simulations on how to change history and avoid third impact with Shinji going alone but they had all failed until they factored in two people. One person couldn't change all the events that needed to be changed in order to make things right which was why Shinji had needed Asuka.

Shinji's thoughts settled on Maya once more, he truly did love her, he briefly asked himself if what he was doing was the right thing after all he was sacrificing everything. Shinji shook his head, the fate of billions was more important than his own relationship. So many had died that day, they never had a choice - one man had taken upon himself to create a world of for his own selfish reasons putting himself above the survival of the species. Shinji would not make the same mistake; he was doing this for the world…wasn't he?

Maya entered the Lab standing next to her husband; "Shinji, I love you so much, but the work is more important than us" She said sensing what was on his mind. She always seemed to know, it was a talent Shinji had come to rely on and she always knew how to say the right thing.

Shinji nodded knowing she was speaking the truth but he couldn't help notice the silent tears that ran down her cheeks; Encircling her with his arms at the waist, he pulled her close to him, turning to face him they looked into each others eyes and kissed. It wasn't the passionate kisses they had shared the night before or the kind you'd give to a friend but it was one that spoke everything they could not say in words. – "Goodbye, My love" because they both knew that no matter what happened, neither would see each other again.

A orange jump suited technician came up to them from where he was fitting some cables and coughed gently as Maya and Shinji broke the kiss; "I'm sorry for interrupting but we're ready" he said simply; both Maya and Shinji nodded.

Asuka entered the Lab having also been informed by a runner of the situation, this was it, and they were finally going to do it.

"Smile like you mean it Shinji, if these are our last minutes together I want to fade into oblivion with the image of your smiling face burned into my mind" Maya spoke slowly as Shinji wiped the tear from her eye tenderly complying with her wish he smiled.

Shinji walked over to a sealed door on the right side of the lab and punched in the access code on the keypad after several beeps it complied and the door hissed open. Asuka followed him in, looking around at the metal room there were several cases of weapons and various other cases full of scientific equipment.

Shinji picked up two semiautomatic pistols and laid them on the table in the centre of the room, along with six magazines of ammunition and hoisted a silver suitcase off the floor onto the table.

Pushing a code into each of the digital locks the case possessed it beeped before the locked popped open. Opening the case Asuka looked curiously at the items inside the padded case. The two devices looked a little like oversized digital wristwatches.

Each one was black, with a digital keypad and red digital display next to it, attached to it was an equally jet back wrist strap. Taking one out, Shinji handed it to her and took one for himself strapping it to his wrist and turning it on, a light above the display went from Red to blue, and the display kicked in reading "September 27th " and "2035 AD" in big red Lettering underneath

Asuka did likewise and the second device activated in a similar way, "Shinji, what IS this thing?" she asked confused.

"Temporal Stabiliser, what ever you do, don't take it off", Shinji said as Asuka fiddled with the device seeing she needed further explanation Shinji continued. "Identical molecules can't occupy the same time twice, this sets up a field around your body to neutralise that, it also serves as a timer so we know when we are"

"What happens if I take it off?" Asuka asked.

"One of two things, you'll either be wrenched back through the time stream or…" Shinji paused as he loaded a magazine into one of the pistols and pulled back the charging handle; "every molecule in your body will explode at the speed of light and scatter throughout history"

Asuka's expression darkened; "Oh"

"And if by some miracle or act of god, neither of those happens, I'll shoot you"; Shinji said putting his pistol in his belt and covering it with his shirt.

Asuka's expression darkened further as Shinji left the room and headed back into the Lab, Asuka picked up and loaded the remaining pistol, holstering it at the small of her back and walked back into the Lab.

Maya and one of the orange jump-suited technicians typed at their respective computers while Shinji stood in front of the large circular gate at the front of the lab, Asuka joined him they were finally ready.

"Asuka, one more thing, Golden rule – no one can know who we really are, not even…us do understand?" Shinji explained; Asuka nodded her understanding; "Terrible things happen to those that mess with time Asuka, even something that seems innocuous could be disastrous"

Asuka once again nodded; "I understand Shinji"

"Good because if you don't I'll shoot you", Shinji Clarified.

"You just want to shoot me don't you Shinji?" Asuka asked mockingly, Shinji however didn't reply unnerving Asuka, she would not have time to think about it too much though as everything was about to hit the fan.

"Initiating stage 1 start-up", Maya spoke from her station; "unlocking all inhibitors and increasing reactor output"

"Bringing computer systems online" replied the technician on the other console as all the controls and lights on the Time gate came to life as did the 8 super computers at the left side of the lab;

"Initiating stage 2", Maya stated "Calculating Tachyon stream and co-ordinates for temporal insertion"

"I have a temporal lock, target date: March 15th 2015AD, Location: Tokyo 3"; the technician shot back a second later follow by; "Switching over from Reactors to S2 Engine"

"Confirmed, Tachyon stream is stable, S2 Engine is online, bringing Time-Gate to full power for Final stage"

"Confirmed, reading S2 Engine at 100 percent capacity, all systems are green across the board. Reaction is stable, power is green, Time-Gate reading nominal"

"Initiating final stage, removing final safety locks preparing for temporal insertion"

"Aye, temporal insertion in, five…four…three...two…one"

As the count down reached zero once again there was a loud crack like a sonic boom in the lab as a the ring device known as the Time-Gate activated, it glowed bright red, in its centre a whirlpool of black and white light started to form. Only this time instead of the power going out the whirlpool of light continued to expand drawing energy from the S2 Drive, when it reached the rings border its colour changed from black and white to a shimmering rainbow of colour as it surface rippled like water.

"Temporal Insertion is…stable", Said the technician double checking his readings.

Without a second word, Shinji looked back once last time at the woman he had come to love mouthing the words I love you before stepping through the vortex and disappearing. Asuka looked back and simply said "Wish us luck" before following Shinji into the rift.

For Asuka, the Journey was not a pleasant one, she felt like her stomach was going to explode from the stress as her body was pulled along faster than the speed of light. The force of gravity was incredible one second she felt like she was about to be crushed the next she felt entirely weightless while her body felt like it was being electrocuted. Within seconds it was over and Asuka was spewed from the spinning Vortex and onto the street below landing with an unceremonious thud, the gateway disappearing behind her.

Asuka immediately wrenched and vomited over a pile of boxes stacked in the alleyway they had landed in, breathing heavy she wiped her mouth with her sleeve and tried to wash away the foul taste with a bottle of water she had brought along.

"That…was…the most unpleasant thing I have ever experienced", She said turning to face Shinji; "you could have warned me"

"Where's the fun in that?" he said simply before walking away, he heard Asuka shout several colourful expletives and growl before following him; glancing at his Temporal stabiliser the digital readout stated the exact date they had targeted, the gateway worked perfectly. Nodding, Shinji covered it with his sleeve. They had arrived.

Continued…

**Notes**: Well in two chapters this is more than half the total size of Red sky, well least no one can complain its too short. Pre-read was done by Buzz who this time says – "I eat angst for breakfast", Thanks man. I have indeed become attached to the new separator since quick edit doesn't strip it away.


	3. Every dog

**Chapter 3: Every dog…**

Asuka caught up with Shinji as he walked out from the ally and onto a street of Tokyo 3, the city was virtually deserted, by now the 'Angel War' was in full swing and most people had left…most people with any sense anyway.

"Shinji" Asuka said looking back and forth at the empty street, except for one or two cars that drove past at speed.

"You can't call me that here", Shinji replied.

"Then what do I call you?" Asuka replied hesitantly looking at him over her glasses; "Stupid Dork?" she said jokingly.

Shinji looked thoughtful for a moment ignoring Asuka's comment as he thought of a name; "Call me Tawara", he finally replied.

"You just make that up on the spot?" Asuka asked.

"Pretty much", he replied as he started walking down the street, Asuka quickly pulled up at his side.

"So do I get a name? And where exactly are we going?" Asuka questioned as she stepped in front of her companion blocking his way.

Shinji sighed at the annoyance; perhaps bringing Asuka wasn't such a good idea maybe he would have been better off with Kensuke; "Ok, Fiona and as for where we're going, I thought we might like to rent an apartment since we're gonna be here a while".

"Fiona…what the hell kind of name is that!" Asuka spat.

"You asked for a name didn't you"; Shinji clarified not waiting for her reply as he stepped past her.

Asuka stood there for several seconds in shock as Shinji walked away waiting until he was out of immediate earshot she muttered; "Maya was definitely your better half" before jogging to catch up.

(0 0 0)

Asuka lay on the bed staring up at the ceiling fan as it span round and round ever circulating the air in the apartment in a futile attempt to cool its occupant. Not that the weather changed much since second impact; she'd forgotten just how damn hot it used to get in this period.

With each turn of the fan a new thought went through her mind, it didn't matter they all came back to Shinji and the justice every fibre in her being cried out for. Twenty years it had taken her to put her issues behind her, accepting her mother's death, Rei and more recently her feelings for Shinji.

Feelings she had kept hidden for more than two decades, she had never tried to get between him and Maya she owed him that. _'When this is over Shinji, I want you to kill me'_ she thought. Because this version of Asuka Langley Sohryu had had enough of living and when that time comes for her to fade into nothingness she would welcome it with open eyes and arms embracing the cold body of death whole heatedly.

Shinji had left their small apartment two hours ago and had yet not returned; her attention turned from the fan to look around the room, it wasn't an altogether unpleasant place and they had rented it easy enough. You'd be surprised how easily someone buckled under the flash of a NERV ID, even several years out of date if used the right way.

The walls were painted grey much like most apartments in the area, it had all the amenities like a bathroom, bedroom, living room everything you'd expect but it also felt somehow empty and devoid of life.

It was hard to explain, but even though they had been in the apartment now for several days, It didn't feel lived in. When someone has lived in a building for a while they leave part of them behind in the walls and in the atmosphere it's not so much tangible but a feeling. New tenants could pick up the essence of the old but here there was nothing, only emptiness it seemed somewhat fitting.

Asuka sat up on the bed, dusted herself down and put on her red coat in one fluid motion, she smiled to herself and nodded she had one piece of unfinished personal business to take care of. She was too young before but now maybe now he would want her.

Asuka grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled down a note for Shinji when he got back.

(0 0 0)

Shinji walked down through the sterile hospital corridors, he could honestly say that he hated this place with a passion it had been the site of many things in his childhood that plagued his darkest nightmares. Lest this time he was here to save a life, the life of his friend – Touji, he had died the first time around but this time he knew he could save him if he could alter things just enough and warn his younger self of the situation. He just hoped his younger self could do what needed to be done.

Shinji looked with his eyes at the young man heading towards him, his face downcast as they walked towards each other, this must have been the very meeting that Touji had made the deal with NERV. Touji's sister would be transferred to a NERV hospital for care while Touji agreed to pilot Unit 03.

"Pretty damn cold dad" Shinji thought knowing the elder Ikari had used Touji's sister to get him to pilot unit 03 but then again he had used Rei to get himself to pilot Unit 01 so it wasn't really surprising. Shinji pushed the thought away as he and Touji locked eyes for a second the six-foot tall boy stopping and looking directly at Shinji.

"Hey, you look just like someone I know", Touji said.

"I get that a lot, guess I have one of those faces", Shinji replied smiling.

"Yeah, guess so, so what you in for man?" Touji asked.

"Just a few tests", Shinji lied, "you?"

"Here to see my sister", Touji spoke.

"She ok?" Shinji asked.

"Not really; she needs some major surgery this hospital just isn't equipped for, best they can do is keep her stable" Touji replied obviously saddened.

"That sucks man, what happened to her?" Shinji spoke honestly.

"You remember when the Angels first started attacking?" Touji asked looking the man in the eyes.

Shinji nodded; "How can I forget", he said.

"Well, during the fight she got crushed under some rubble, did some pretty serious damage to her, I blamed the pilot of the robot for a while but it wasn't his fault, he probably saved her life..." Touji seemed to trail off in thought.

"Yeah, what's up with those robots, look pretty damn freaky if you ask me", Shinji said it as more a statement than a question but Touji took the bait that Shinji had happily dangled on the line.

"Tell me about it, at least you don't have to get in one", Touji replied.

"You pilot one of those things?" Shinji continued to bait information from Touji.

"Don't have much of a choice, if anyone asks why I did it years down the line, it was all for her man, all for Mari" Touji said once again his head downcast. "Hey man it's been great talking to you but I gotta jet, take care of yourself ok?"

"You too, hope everything turns out ok", Shinji replied as Touji walked away to the hospital elevators where he disappeared inside.

Shinji looked at his watch; he had plenty of time to get to the NERV building he headed towards the Nurses desk. She was a pretty young thing mind, in her twenties, pure Japanese with a cute little nurse's hat to boot. Shinji began to turn on the fake charm and flashed her a smile, which she caught before looking back down at her computer screen.

"Hello, miss" Shinji said making the nurse look back up from her computer.

"Can I help you?" she chimed off in a helpful tone Shinji could tell she obviously practised in front of a mirror everyday.

"Would you be so kind as to tell me which room Mari Suzahara is in please?" Shinji said seeing through her plastic smile but at the same time flashing one of his own.

"I'm sorry sir, we're not allowed to do that", she said.

"I was just talking to her brother, he said I could see her, I just forgot to ask what room she was in" Shinji said making up an excuse on the fly.

The nurse looked thoughtful for a moment as she ran her eyes over Shinji trying to assess him or any threat he might be; "Alright, 312, but she's sleeping right now please don't wake her".

Shinji nodded and headed down the corridor counting the room numbers as he went as he approached room 312 he could hear muffled voices coming from inside;

"Yeah, while we have the kid's future in our hands he will pilot" said an obviously female voice.

"But seriously how long do you think we can fob him off promising him an operation that we're never going to deliver?" replied a rough sounding male voice.

"As long as we need to, did you see how much he loved his sister? We've got this one in the bag" the female voice answered as the catch on the door-clicked open. Shinji tried to make himself look busy and to the casual observer looked like he was focusing all his attention on the notice board where several memo's hung.

The door opened and the two people walked out of Mari Suzahara's room and right past Shinji Ikari without so much as acknowledging his presence. With a sigh of relief he looked to his right spying the retreating form or Ritsuko Akagi and her companion as they continued to discus Mari's future out of earshot down the corridor when they were gone, Shinji entered the younger Suzahara's room.

She lay there sleeping peacefully, hooked up to several machines and various hospital equipment to help her breathing, monitor her blood pressure and breathing. Her hair fanned out on the pillow as she lay on her back the only sign she was even alive was the gentle rise and fall of her chest along with the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor.

Shinji had never met Mari before; he could never bring himself to come despite Touji's repeated invitations he had been too afraid. She looked a lot like Touji, only much younger and with longer hair the same colour as his friends.

Watching her sleep he couldn't help but think back at Touji's words – _"if anyone asks why I did it years down the line, it was all for her man, all for Mari". _Shinji understood now why his sister was so important to him; "Family" he said quietly aloud so as not to wake the girl; "its all about Family" a concept Shinji never truly understood until now.

"I'll make sure you have a future…and a brother" Shinji whispered; "I'll fight to make that happen" he said after watching her for several minutes in silence he whispered his goodbyes and departed for now he had somewhere to be.

However as the door clicked closed behind Shinji the little girls eyes fluttered open as she had been awake the whole time, she looked up at the familiar ceiling and whispered "Thank you" before letting sleep truly claim her.

(0 0 0)

Asuka came to the building she desired entry to; it was an old wooden house in the mountains on the outskirts of Tokyo 3 not far from the plateau that Shinji had brought her to after Third impact to survey the damage to the city.

She remembered vividly the destruction, buildings that had been set alight, while others had simply collapsed, the sea of LCL and of course the rotting corpse of a giant Rei Ayanami as the backdrop to this devastation.

Looking out over the city, she could still see this image when she closed her eyes shaking herself to reassure herself that the city was still intact and the lights of the city twinkled beautifully in the twilight sun.

"I forgot how lovely the city was," she said aloud turning back to the house in question, her hand hovering at the doorbell, a mere inch from the button. Second thoughts and doubts crept into her mind as well as Shinji's words and promises of gunshot wounds should she do anything to screw this up.

Her logical mind prevailed and she was about to turn to leave when suddenly the door opened and she was face to face with Kaji, her hand still hovering on the door bell

"Can I help you miss?", Kaji asked.

"I…uh…you…" Asuka managed losing all coherent thought and speech at the sight of the unshaven rouge.

"I assume you have a reason for being at my door and you were obviously here to see me as you look as though you were going to ring my bell", Kaji said confused.

Asuka simply stared like the dear caught in the headlights of a truck heading towards it.

"Would you like to come in?" Kaji said carrying on this obviously one-sided conversation as he stepped out of the way to allow the young woman inside.

Asuka simply nodded and entered the house, siting down on one of the sofa's not bothering to take off her coat.

"Would you like some tea or coffee?" Kaji asked.

Asuka nodded once again not indicated which she wanted so Kaji headed into the kitchen shouting back "Well it will have to coffee I'm afraid; I 'm a coffee man and its not often I get visitors"

"Th…that's fin…fine", Asuka stammered out in reply.

Kaji smiled as finally he had got a response from the young woman occupying his living room sofa. Kaji could say in all honesty it was not often he was caught off guard in his profession, he was taught to expect the unexpected. However for a woman and an admittedly pretty one to turn up at his door without so much as even a word was unusual to say the least.

Asuka looked around the room desperately trying to get a handle on herself, she couldn't stammer out reply's forever. She wondered why on earth there had been the dramatic change she never used to have a problem talking to Kaji heck she had even offered her body to him on more that one occasion hardly the act of a shy girl. Considering what she had come here to do in the first place had been unexpected.

Kaji returned minutes later with two steaming hot cups of coffee, carefully placing them down on the coffee table he sat down beside Asuka.

"So why do I owe the visit miss?" Kaji asked.

Asuka hesitated for a brief second before replying with "Fiona, Fiona Langly"

Now had Kaji been most men, the brief hesitation in her voice would have gone unnoticed however Kaji was not most men. He smiled reassuringly as he picked up one of the cups.

"Fiona, that's a lovely name", he said, flashing her one of his patented smiles.

"No its not", Asuka retorted starting to feel some of her old self confidence come back.

"It is really" Kaji supplied; "why don't you like it?"

Asuka was thought full for a moment her first response would have been 'because its not German' however she knew that would have been saying to much; "Its not important" she said picking up the remaining mug of brown liquid and taking a sip. Enjoying the feeling of hot liquid as it travelled down her throat down to her stomach

"So what do I owe the honour of such a pretty girl visiting my home?" Kaji asked smoothly.

"I broke down, I was wondering if I could use your phone" Asuka lied thinking fast of an excuse one she obviously hadn't thought through as Kaji spotted her cell phone in her inside pocket.

"Why not use your cell phone?" he asked, baiting the red hair woman further.

"Battery's dead" she replied simply covering her tracks.

"I see" was Kaji's only response not believing the woman's flimsy cover story for a minute, all he had to try and figure now was who she was working for as he placed his mug down on the table once again prompting Asuka to do like wise.

"Phone is in the hallway if you…" Kaji was cut off before he could finish his sentence as soft lips quickly found his and began to kiss him with abandon. Kaji responded to Asuka's aggressive kiss by deepening the kiss further turning it from one of emotion to one of lust and passion. He honestly did not know who the woman was or whom she worked for but at this very moment his mind detached from his body and he simply didn't care.

Kaji moved his hand trailing up Asuka's leg, cradling her at the small of her back, while Asuka pushed forward to put Kaji on his back without breaking the kiss he likewise pulled her forward, quickly shifting their weight so neither of them would be hurt.

Kaji moved his now free hand up from his side to firmly kneed Asuka's breast through her thin black blouse as she lay on top of him.

Asuka pulled away from the kiss briefly to gain her breath and moan gently at his ministrations. This breather allowed Kaji's mind time to kick in one last time as he asked, "Who are you really?"

Asuka's breathing continued to become more rapid and erratic as her arousal increased. With Kaji gently unbuttoning her blouse to reveal her pale flawless skin underneath he pinched her nipple exciting another deep moan. She finally breathed out in a husky tone of voice; "Some one without a future" and with that reply she kissed him once again as her shirt and coat were pushed away, Asuka at the same time unbuttoning Kaji's shirt both losing themselves in oblivion and each other.

'_Let time be damned' _Asuka thought _'Let it all be damned'_

(0 0 0)

Touji looked up at the huge black and silver Evangelion known as Unit 03 as it stood proudly in the Eva cages of Mushiro after it had been transported from Second Branch. Touji had a bad feeling about this but Misato gave him a reassuring smile as he pulled at his black and blue plug suit which left nothing to the imagination much to Misato's amusement as she made repeated gestures to the female technicians about Touji's "Bulge".

'_Curse my weakness for a pretty girl'_ Touji thought idly as he made his way down the gantry way to where the Entry plug was waiting for him. He was really going to go through with it; "For You Mari" he said aloud.

One of the technicians glanced at him oddly "What was that kid?" he spoke.

"Nothing" Touji said as he sat in the plug, seconds later he could feel it spinning as it slid down into Unit 03's spine. The Plug was dark but a second after it stopped and lights came on, illuminating the plug in a pale orange hue.

"Ok, we're going to begin First stage activation" said a voice over the Tact-net, Touji couldn't identify it nor didn't care to as he wanted out of this thing as soon as possible; he understood now why Shinji hated it so much. He couldn't for the life of him figure out why Kensuke wanted to pilot so badly.

"Damn nut job" he spoke aloud thinking about Kensuke's particular fetish when it came to Evangelions.

"What?" said the same female voice.

"Nothing" Touji replied focusing on the task at hand.

"Clear your mind of any stray thoughts, focus on activating the Eva" replied the voice.

"Yeah sure" Touji spoke not adding the "I'll get your little toy god running"

"Proceeding to stage 1" Touji looked around as LCL started to Flood the plug, Touji willed himself to relax its just like being a baby, baby's breathe liquid all the time he remembered Hikari telling him one time. Touji forced himself to start breathing the liquid against his bodies natural response not to and found it easier with each breath he took.

"Primary nerve connections are clear, proceeding to stage 2..."

The entry plug filled with colour, both dazzling and beautiful as the second stage activation began, the white walls of the entry plug went transparent and changed to a view of outside. He could now see Misato and the blonde scientist that he met at the hospital talking about something and glancing back to Unit 03 then to the technicians then each other.

"I guess I'm a big deal" he muttered not quite loud enough for the Tact-net to pick up.

"Proceeding to third stage…" said a voice this time male; "all nerve connections are green approaching absolute border line"

Touji suddenly felt pain and a lot of it, he screamed out as he felt every aspect of his mind, body and indeed soul being violated by something foreign; trying to fight it he pondered if this was normal for an Eva activation.

"All nerve connections are reversing, oh Christ it's an Angel!"

Touji screamed as the pain got worse, grasping his head with his hands trying to shake lose whatever entity had attacked him but it was to no avail, all he managed to do was open one eye to see Misato and the blonde look on in total shock.

As the Eva started to tear out of its restraints, there was a brilliant blinding white flash and Touji could feel intense heat all over his body before the pain overcame him and he passed out.

(0 0 0)

Shinji approached the gates to the Geo-Front; the large metal gates were closed and he glanced at his watch _still have enough time before the battle starts_ he thought. Shinji looked around to see people go about their business with no idea that the battle of the Thirteenth would soon be upon them

Shinji slid his NERV ID through the reader and the computer beeped briefly before chiming out "Welcome Pilot Ikari" and the large metal doors opened giving him access to the Tokyo 3 NERV building.

Shinji smiled as he headed inside passing NERV staff as they went about their business completely unaware that we wasn't supposed to be there. After all, the MAGI was the most advanced computer system in the world in charge of the most sophisticated security grid in existence, if he wasn't supposed to be there he would never have got in.

It was simple human nature, after you go so far into a secured area, people assume your supposed to be there because if you weren't you certainly wouldn't know your way around. It was all about acting like you belong, Shinji mused as he approached his destination, glancing at his watch; soon it would begin but this time it would be different

Continued…

**Notes: ** Well ok, lets see, Kaji and Asuka is pretty much a one time thing it was just too good an opportunity to waste for Asuka to have some of her unrequited love for Kaji and to use him as a surrogate for her feelings for Shinji. I.e. emotional turmoil great sex and a lucky Kaji. You saw that coming right from the beginning of this chapter right? – Pre-read was done by Buzz.


	4. Has his day

Future Imperfect 

**Chapter 4: …Has his day**

**Note: ** Wow first time I've noted at the beginning of a chapter, right this is a bit complex as we have Future Shinji & Asuka and Present Shinji & Asuka, I HOPE you can tell the difference.

The Battle had begun, Commander Gendo Ikari sat in his command bridge chair, his hands linked together to bridge his nose and his elbows leaning on the desk. It was his usual pose. His long time friend and former mentor Sub Commander Kouzou Fuyutsuki stood beside him watching the "Bridge bunnies" had several of the lower officers had dubbed them, go about there business typing commands into there workstation to try and identify the situation.

Kouzou Fuyutsuki was perhaps the only other person alive who knew of Gendo Ikari's true agenda - to be reunited with Yui…forever, everyone you ever loved or cared about with you for all eternity and while he might not totally agree with Ikari's methods his motives were sound. To Fuyutsuki Yui had been a very special woman; he had met her many years before anyone had even thought of using the beasts Adam or Lilith to create the abomination known as Evangelion.

Eva had been her design and her agenda through her own creation killed her, well after a fashion. Her ego border had been breached by Unit 01 and her soul "absorbed" into the core, where she lay trapped for a decade. Fuyutsuki often wondered if Gendo had known what would happen in the Unit 01 activation test and had deliberately placed his own wife in danger to further his ends…

Fuyutsuki pushed those thoughts out of his mind as his attention was drawn to the main screen and tactical 3D map that stood in the centre of the Command Bridge showing Unit 03 lumbering over the desert landscape. Its long black arms hung loosely at its side as it walked slowly towards Tokyo 3.

Shinji, Asuka and Rei had deployed in Unit 01, 02 and 00 respectively and lay in wait for the renegade Eva to approach them. Unsure of exactly what was happening the pilots spoke amongst themselves as Unit 03 came from behind a hill,

"Any idea what's happening" Shinji said as unit 03's hulking mass came into view.

"No idea…all I know is there was some kind of explosion at the test facility" Asuka said.

"I hope Misato is ok…" Shinji replied however Asuka went silent

Rei did not respond, what she classed as "Idle chit chat" was unworthy of her time.

Uproar erupted on the Command Bridge as Aoba stood from his seat and yelled out "Pattern blue! It's an angel!" the look of shock quickly subsided as the other 'Bridge bunnies' attempted to locate the angel however all there sensors pointed to unit 03.

"This can't be right, Unit 03 is creating a blue pattern" Maya echoed

"That is correct" Gendo said his usual mask firmly in place; "Re-classify unit 03 as an Angel and have our Eva units engage" he ordered.

"Sir?" all three technicians turned to the commander.

"DO IT" Gendo spoke not breaking his composure.

After a quick flurry of commands the Tact-Net was updated re-classifying unit 03 as the Thirteenth; "Eva Units are to engage the Thirteenth angel"

"What about the pilot? Who is it?" Shinji replied.

"The Pilot has been ejected, only the angel remains" Gendo lied.

Asuka's voice cut in a second later; "what are you Stupid! The Pilot is…" Asuka's video screen was cut off under the commander's orders; the minor distraction giving Unit03 the opportunity in needed as it erupted from its standing position and used its colossal arms and legs to sprint forward like a Primate, it quickly closed the distance on Unit 02, slamming into it, using its arms to disable it.

"Scheisset!" Asuka yelled.

As her Red Unit 02 fell silent and was pushed into the ground.

Next up was Rei, she aimed her rifle at the Back of unit 03's head, with one clean shot this would be over, the two green circles merged into one and turned red, signalling the lock.

Rei's finger tensed around the trigger, a millisecond later the muzzle flash erupted from the rifle's barrel as the slug was propelled forward striking the Eva's shoulder.

Rei quickly compensated for her error, she would need to get the sights looked at on unit 00 later, re-locking her targeting system she fully intended to carry out the commanders orders and silence the thirteenth Angel. After all there was no pilot to worry about and Rei would have done it to had she not spotted one flaw in her plan – the entry plug.

A moment's hesitation was all it took for unit 03 to leap high into the air, Rei tried to bring her rifle up to correct her mistake however it was two late as Unit03 came crashing down on top of her slamming her into the mountainside.

The Angels arm wrapped around her throat holding her down while its other arm pushed into her shoulder. Rei felt pain as the Angel tried to fuse with her Eva no…with her.

"CONTAMINATON!" Maya bust out in the command centre; "Unit01 has been contaminated by the Thirteenth on the right shoulder and it's spreading fast". To Rei's credit she did not scream out as the intense pain gripped her body, literally feeling her shoulder start to melt as if it had been dipped in acid.

"Detonate Unit Zero's right arm" Gendo ordered coolly.

"What...You can't be serious!" Maya protested.

"Carry out my orders Miss Ibuki or I shall find someone who will", Gendo said coldly.

"Y...yes sir", Maya said under the commanders burrowing gaze a moment later issuing the commands that would ignite the explosive bolts in unit 00's right shoulder.

Within a second of receiving the command unit 00 complied and its right arm exploding violently, throwing the angel back several feet in the process, this time Rei screamed as the pain of having her arm slowly corroded was replaced by having her arm blown off – literally.

As Rei passed out from the pain and shock as unit 00 went silent.

Unit 03 stared down Unit 01 for now the purple giant was the only thing standing between it and victory, Unit 03 charged towards the purple mecha using its arms to grasp unit01 by the throat, Shinji responded in kind as the two giants tried to strangle each other.

As Shinji willed unit01 to punch the black mecha in the face, Unit 03 was thrown back by the impact with an almighty scream as the pilot felt what Unit03 felt however the blow was not enough to silence the beast as it slowly rose back to its feet. To Shinji's horror he spotted the familiar shape of the white entry plug burrowed deep into Unit03's spine, covered by webbing.

"Father! The Pilot is still inside!" he almost yelled.

"Irrelevant, the pilot is most likely dead, Unit 01, you are fighting the thirteenth angel, now carry out your mission" Gendo ordered.

Unit 03 slammed right into Unit 01, the tackle dragging the purple Eva across several Kilometres and right into the side of a mountain back first.

"Fight back!" Gendo ordered as Unit 03 wrapped its hands around Unit01's neck and began to squeeze with no resistance from the pilot of Unit 01

"I can't father, I can't kill another human being", Shinji cried.

"Third Child! That thing is an angel, it is your enemy! Destroy your enemy NOW" Gendo replied coolly his eyes narrowing dangerously.

"I won't father!" Shinji screamed out still feeling the pain as Unit 03 squeezed the life out of him without any mercy.

"Activate the Dummy Plug", Gendo said sadistically with a slightly sickening grin.

"That system hasn't been approved by Doctor Akagi yet!" Maya once again jumped up in protest.

Gendo Stood up and slammed his hands down on his command table, palm first; "It's still better than the current pilot!" he yelled.

However before Maya could comply with Gendo Ikari's request everything in the command centre went dark, the 3D Tactical display shut down, as did all monitors and all consoles stopped accepting commands only the large screen at the front of the command centre remained active.

"Shinji Listen to me" Said a voice over the tact-net, unfamiliar to the younger pilot; "You have to fight Shinji"

"What's going on?" Sub commander Fuyutsuki ordered; "Unknown, someone has completely overridden our systems" replied Aoba.

"Where from?" Gendo commanded.

"According to this its somewhere within NERV Headquarters. Tracing…" Aoba said.

A Display screen appeared in Shinji's cockpit; "Shinji are you listening to me!" the voice prompted, its face silhouette masking the mans identity

Shinji continued to sob both tears of pain from the way the Angel and tears of sadness from the way his father was treating him as nothing more than a pawn to be played with; "I can't do it!" he sobbed out.

"Yes you can, you have to, do you want that pilot to die?.…Because if you don't fight he WILL die…I can't keep them out forever." He stated knowing just how good Maya and the other technicians were.

"Die…" Shinji sobbed out.

"Yes, the pilot, Touji! He will die unless YOU stop it, NOW" the voice commanded.

"TOUJI!" Shinji screamed, as the giant Purple mecha brought its arms up and wrapped them around the throat of the Angel, pushing it off of Unit 01 narrowing its eyes with determination and fire not seen before; "I'm coming Touji HANG on!" Shinji yelled adrenaline taking over his body.

Shinji willed the Giant Mecha forward tackling the angel to the ground belly first, using its own weight to push the angel into the ground and suppress its ability to move. Unit 01 reacting on instinct opened the shoulder compartment housing the Progressive knife, with a quick reflex the knife was pulled from its housing, glowing yellow as it activated.

With a quick slash of the Progressive knife, the webbing around the entry plug was cut, Unit 01's hands levered off the back plate and ripped out the entry plug, after several spasms unit 03 went silent.

Power in the command centre was restored and all motoring systems were restored. "Target is silent"; Hyuga said checking the status of the angel.

"Got him!" Aoba said as he finished the trace on the hacker "Section 3, Junction 8 ...Tricky bastard." Aoba spoke.

"Get security down there now" Fuyutsuki ordered however he didn't need to as Aoba had already taken the liberty of doing so.

Unit 01 moved the fragile white plug to safety however his Tact net flashed up a warning as Unit 03 once again started to get to its feet. "Eva Unit 03 has reactivated!" Hyuga yelled.

The Purple beast turned to face the black behemoth as it mutated, several tentacles shooting out of its left arm to try and grab Unit 01, wrapping themselves around its torso and pulling the mecha closer to it.

Shinji willed Unit 01 to resist but the bind was to strong, so instead he pushed the control yolks forward moving the purple behemoth forward, using the progressive knife to cut the tentacles in one downward slice causing the now pure angel to let out an almighty scream.

"You fucking DIE!" Shinji screamed, seeing not the angel but an image of his father as rage, joy, anger, love, hate, sadness and pain all blurred into one emotion.

Shinji using its momentary distraction continued to charge and bear down on the black mecha. Once again raising his progressive knife however this time holding it with both hands he rammed full force into the giant mecha before it could retaliate sending it to the ground. Using every ounce of strength both he and Unit 01 could muster as well as the momentum from the fall he drove the progressive knife into the neck of Unit 03.

A high-pressure jet of blood sprayed forth in all directions from the open wound covering the purple mecha in the red liquid as well as the nearby landscape. Maya looked at the blood soaked giant bio-mechanical machine on the screen and tried to suppress her urge to vomit.

Gendo sat back down in his command chair satisfied with the situation, a sickening grin crossing his lips only hidden by his bridged hands as he formed his usual pose.

"What is the status of the Angel?" Fuyutsuki enquired.

"Silent" Hyuga replied after double checking his readings.

"Are we sure this time?" Fuyutsuki ask to confirm.

"Yes, I'm reading zero core activity", Hyuga replied checking his readings for a third time.

"Very well, send a recovery team to bring in the pilot of Unit 03 for debriefing and medical evaluation, issue orders to retrieve the Evas" Gendo cut in smoothly.

"Aye" replied the three main bridge technicians.

(000)

NERV Security quickly ran through the maze of corridors that made up this area of Central Dogma turning corners and sprinting between their colleagues, their tan white uniforms only broken by the Kevlar body armour worn over there chests and the metallic black of P-90 submachine guns. The five man team quickly came to a stop and executed a standard SWAT tactic with one man holding on each side of the corridor while the rear guard and leader protected from behind with the scout approaching the metal door at the end of the corridor.

As the scout moved forward the two men on each side moved forward too keeping just behind him so they could give him covering fire if need be. The scout reached the door and kicked it open and to his surprise there were no booby traps, no explosions and no people, the intruder had disappeared.

Meanwhile several corridors away Shinji pulled a cap down over his eyes and kept them downcast as he made his way to the exit, the cap he had borrowed from the desk in the computer room he had been in mere minutes before security arrived as he made his escape.

(000)

Gendo Ikari's office was large and expansive; its red carpet only broken by the single black marble desk that the commander himself sat behind in his usual pose, the Tree of Life decorating the office ceiling, its massive form covering it entirely.

Doctor Ritsuko Akagi stood in front of the Commander Ikari's desk she had been summoned to give her report on the earlier situation; "Damage to Unit 03 was fairly extensive however it is recoverable…"

"What is the status of the fourth child?" Gendo cut in smoothly

"Mentally or physically?" Ritsuko asked.

"Both" Gendo replied in his usual emotionless tone.

"He has undergone significant trauma, we have healed his physical injuries however when the angel breached his mind it induced a catatonic state that we have been unable to breach thus far he is currently on an isolation ward undergoing treatment" she reported.

"What of his sister?" Gendo asked.

"As per your instructions commander she has not yet been given her operation", Ritsuko replied coolly.

"You may proceed with her operation Doctor, it is unlikely that the Fourth Child will pilot again, if he survives therefore NERV has nothing to lose by granting his request", Gendo stated and briefly paused for the doctor to nod her understanding before continuing. "Do we know why the Thirteenth reactivated?" he asked.

"Because the Angel was linked directly synced to the pilot, when Shi…the Third Child removed him from the Eva, Unit 03 became dormant however the Angel quickly compensated for this and took complete control of Unit 03. I can only assume that on some level the pilot was fighting the angel since it was only able to truly manifest itself after the pilot was ejected", Ritsuko replied.

"Very well doctor", Gendo replied; "You are dismissed" he ordered.

"Commander, today's Thursday, I was hoping we could…"

"I am having dinner with Rei tonight" Gendo cut in.

"Oh" Ritsuko said trying not to sound too disappointed but failing.

"However, if you report to my office afterwards then we may engage in sexual relations" he replied. Gendo wasn't a complete bastard and at the same time he wasn't going to turn down sex with the blonde doctor either.

"Thank you" she said quietly as she departed his office.

Gendo Remained fixed in his pose a smile forming on his lips.

(000)

Asuka awoke nestled in Kaji's arms, his strong arms around her shoulders as she lay on his chest. A sigh of contentment escaped her lips as she rested, the sex had been good, better than good but still she somehow regretted it. She thought it would be a good idea when she kissed him; All she had intended to do was kiss him but somehow one thing had led to another and here she was nestled in the mans arms bathing in the 'Afterglow' as it were of their love making.

"You fucked up" she muttered to herself out loud as she thought of Shinji and all the things he would say and likely do to her when he found out and there was no doubt in her mind he WOULD find out even if not right away.

"Love making between two adults is never a bad thing" Kaji said in a soft comforting tone of voice startling Asuka as she blushed profusely at being caught not only talking to herself but acknowledging their 'relationship' as a mistake.

"This was a mistake", she said simply.

"Sometimes the best things come from mistakes", he replied just as easily.

"Perhaps, but not this time, I should not have been so weak", she answered.

"Weakness is human" he shot back levelly.

Asuka only met him with silence as she quickly dressed and left, with no intention of ever returning to this house or to Kaji's arms. Kaji sat there thunderstruck and confused at what he might have said wrong.

As she walked alone down the mountain road silent tears streaming down her cheeks all her pent up emotions came to a head and she yelled at the top of her lungs – "WHY CAN'T YOU LOVE ME!"

The sound of the words echoing between the valley over and over repeating itself "why can't you love me" over and over again; "it should have been me" she sobbed out dropping to her knee's now openly crying.

"It should have been me" she repeated over and over like a mantra as if this would somehow make her feelings for Shinji Ikari manifest and suddenly he would love her too.

Knowing this was never going to happen she cried, really cried for the first time since she saw her mother hanging from her bedroom ceiling

(000)

The young Shinji Ikari sat at his friend's bedside, Touji lay there still, he was in a coma the doctors had said, something about the way the Angel had intruded on his mind. Shinji watched him sleep silent tears running down his face.

"It was because of me…If I had acted faster maybe…I hate you father" Shinji muttered.

Shinji really did hate his father, not just because of what he had done but because of what he had turned him into and for making Shinji truly understand and feel what hatred was and for that he could never forgive him.

But even with all of that, all of the things he had done to him, he was still his father.

(000)

The Elder Ikari walked to the gate that exited the Geo-front the large Magnetic sealed doors stood in his way, he swiped his card through once again and chimed our a "Thank you" before the large doors began there accent to let him pass and exit NERV HQ. Everything had gone as planned, well almost, Touji was in a Coma but at least he was alive.

"Alive" he thought.

As he stood on the escalators they acceded to surface level with a slow hum, descending however on the escalator next to him was none other than Miss Maya Ibuki, standing there in a daze looking out through the Geo-fronts glass windows onto the garden. Dressed in her usual NERV technician uniform that fit her so well.

Shinji's heart caught in his mouth and he began to shake, as his breathing became erratic, he subconsciously started clenching and unclenching his fists, something he hadn't done for many years. Focusing his eyes and all his attention on to the metallic step in front of him his eyes were downcast as she passed.

"Focus on the mission" he muttered to himself, "when that's over I can allow myself to die until then…I must go on"

With that final resolute focus he pushed his feelings aside determined to finish what he was here to do, the future depended on it.

**Notes: **More notes, lots of angst towards the end there and there will of course be more as Asuka and Shinji's tentative relationship starts to show the signs of how much it's strained.

Pre-reader notes: I swear, this is the first time I've nearly started to pull hair out; still, it SHOULD be fine now, 2 pre-reads later. Cockups on a postcard please. –buzz.


	5. Heaven Sends and Heaven Takes

**Chapter 5: Heaven sends and Heaven takes **

Gendo Ikari sat in his office; his usual trademark pose in place as he regarded Misato Katsuragi dressed in formal NERV uniform, with her arm in a sling while she held herself up on one crutch. Her injuries had been mostly superficial and right now she would give anything to be out of this office, a meeting with the commander wasn't good at the best of times but this was not the best of times, in fact nothing could be further from the best of times.

"So, are you fit to return to duty Major?" Gendo Ikari asked as Misato stood several feet away but his voice carried perfectly it the silent office.

"Yes sir" Misato replied.

"Very well, dismissed", Gendo spoke.

"Yes sir", Misato replied, turning on her heal and limping out of the commanders office.

Gendo rose from his chair and strolled over to the window that looked out over the geo-front where his long time friend and mentor Kouzou Fuyutsuki stood watching as the people below went about there business.

"Tell me Gendo, are we doing the right thing?" Fuyutsuki asked never taking his eyes away from the window as his former pupil joined him.

"For Yui, my dear friend" Gendo began eyeing all that he had created; "I would give it all, this empire of dirt"

"For Yui old friend, I'm afraid it will cost far more than that" Fuyutsuki stated.

"I know" Gendo replied.

"Do we have the right?" Fuyutsuki enquired his eyes still focused on the Geo-front Lake.

Gendo remained silent

(000)

A week had passed since the thirteenth's attack; life was slowly starting to return to normal or as normal as it gets in Tokyo 3 in the midst of a war with the very heavens themselves. Misato was recovering, her leg and arm on the mend, Touji was alive and stable but cationic and Mari had been granted her operation.

Shinji had visited Mari a number of times since her brother fell into a coma, he felt it was his way of making it up to her, of course she was always 'asleep' or so Shinji thought. He really didn't think he could face her awake. She would have so many questions that he couldn't give her answers to and of course there was her brother.

Even with all of this it didn't explain why Asuka was so touchy over the last week, their apartment had considerable space but for Asuka it didn't seem enough but then Shinji guessed if they lived in two different cities it wouldn't be enough. Ever since last week she had been acting more like her "old self" and Shinji wondered for a moment if bringing her was a mistake, maybe he should have brought Hikari instead, no that would have been a real mistake, she had enough problems dealing with Touji's death the first time round

"This time he's not dead though" he muttered to himself quietly; "Maybe that's worse for her…" he pondered.

Shinji nodded to himself and smiled because he knew Kensuke wouldn't have let him take his wife along if he tried, she has a husband and kids to worry about, she doesn't need this shit, she doesn't need to know that if he succeeds her kids might not even exist though he suspected that time would play out its hand, Time always did.

Shinji looked over at the digital clock, 11:59PM, March 29th 2015 AD, 14 days since arrival and one Angel down. Soon it would be the Fourteenth or Zaruel the Angel of Might that would come, Shinji remembered that one well, it will defeat Asuka and Rei; and his younger self will be consumed by Unit 01 for several weeks. At least that is the way history remembers it but history to Shinji and Asuka was like an open book and they had the eraser.

(000)

Shinji sat at the dinner table, Asuka was next to him and Misato was sat across the table, they were eating in silence the only sound being the chewing of food and the slurping of instant noodles. This was the fallout from the earlier row; Asuka never talked to anyone these days except for Hikari so her silence was not unusual, however the silence between Shinji and Misato was.

Neither had said a word to each other since the row this morning when Shinji dropped the bombshell that he didn't want to pilot anymore. It had taken him a week to work up the courage to do so and the resulting argument had been huge and since then the two shared a deathly silence.

"I…I'll wash the dishes", Shinji said trying to break the ice as he stood up to grab her empty plate; he stopped plate in hand as she spoke.

"Why should you? It's not like leaving some dirty plates are going to end the world", Misato shot back venomously and Shinji sat back down.

"Look, it's not like I WANT to…I just can't hurt another human again Misato…" Shinji replied sounding weak.

"You probably saved his life, you know that right?" Misato said her rage barely contained at the pathetic form before her.

"I don't care! He's in a coma because of me! He may NEVER wake up because of me!" Shinji yelled back.

"It's a WAR! He was…is a soldier, Soldiers DIE! We don't have to like it that's just how war is" Misato yelled back, her voice resonated with power and authority. A better description might be like the voice of a spectral lion speaking from beyond the grave to her somewhat pathetic shade of a son; some had referred to it as it being Misato's 'Voice of god'

"This is bigger that you and me, our wants, desires or needs! We're in this for the survival of the species Shinji! The whole fucking planet is depending on us!" Misato continued a second later still using her 'Voice of god'

"I don't CARE! I don't care about anyone! I don't care about Father; I don't care about Eva I don't care about anything! I won't hurt anyone else, I won't get back into that monster and you can't MAKE ME!" Shinji screamed as he stood from his seat the chair falling to the floor behind him with a thud tears rolling down his face as he ran off and slammed the door to his room a second later.

Misato sighed as she tipped up her can of beer and downed the contents in one go; "That could have gone better" she said planning on that being the first in a long line of beers and hoping to pass out drunk tonight hopefully not in her own vomit.

Asuka remained silent.

'Yeah, that could have gone much better' she thought as she started her second beer.

(000)

Love is a beautiful disaster or so they say, when you're in love nothing makes sense but you know you don't want it to ever end. Others say love is love is your soul recognising its counter point in another to the elder Shinji Ikari love was both a disaster and one of the greatest things to ever happen to him. Love could be like a sweet melody from the best composer or it could hit like a category five hurricane.

Shinji walked through the corridors of NERV, the combination cap pulled down over his eyes, matching sandy colour shirt, red tie and black trousers. - The standard NERV uniform. He was here waiting for Zaruel to come as he soon would but for the moment he had somewhere to be.

Shinji continued walking down the corridors passing various people heading to the Geo-front; the earth shook violently; "Ah Zaruel, on time, punctual at least" he said to himself as he watched his younger self talk to Kaji. He had a lot of respect for the unshaven man; maybe he was the father he never had, or maybe it was because deep down Shinji wanted to be like Kaji but for whatever reason he liked him. He sighed knowing that Kaji had used that to get him to pilot again

Kaji continued to water his melons as the young Shinji ran off to the Eva cage where he would face his father; the older Shinji pulled a cigarette to his mouth and lit it

"How's it feel Kaji, knowing you just manipulated a kid that looks up to you like a father into doing something he really doesn't want to do?" Shinji asked.

If Kaji was startled he never let on and seemed to act as if he knew Shinji was there the whole time which was a likely possibility given the spy's skills.

"I hated every second of it but the fate of the world rests with that kid", Kaji replied,

"Don't I know it" replied Shinji.

"Those things will kill you, ya'know?" Kaji said pointing to Shinji's cigarette, which flared red as he took a drag on it.

"What won't", Shinji replied with a laugh.

"True enough, is there something you wanted?" Kaji asked.

"Not really, so you think he'll beat it?" Shinji asked wondering what the pony tailed man thought.

"He'll beat it, even if he has to die in the process, its just the way that kid is, he may not act tough but when he sets his mind to something he'll never give up", Kaji replied fully confident in the abilities of the Pilot of Unit 01

Meanwhile further into the Geo-front near the NERV complex the Younger Shinji Ikari was running with everything he could muster towards the Eva Cages knowing that he had to get to Unit 01 and stop the Angel; blocking his path however was a red haired woman.

"Hey" she called out distracted Shinji who slowed down coming to a stop by her side.

"I can't really talk right now… I got to…" Shinji was cut off as the woman screamed dramatically and hugged him tightly

"Please don't let me die", she sobbed.

"It's... Okay ma'am, perhaps you should get to a shelter" Shinji replied.

"But shelters are so dark…hey you pilot one of those big robot things don't you" she asked.

"Yes" Shinji replied hesitantly

"What are you waiting here for then? Go save the world kid" she said letting him go; "Don't let anything get in your way. Everyone is counting on you" she finished. Shinji looked into her eyes and noticed they were of two different colours, he could explain it so dismissed it as a trick of the light as he hurried off towards the Eva cages with a surge of confidence. People actually believed in him, he could do this; he could and would beat the Angel no matter what.

(0 0 0)

The hospital lights flickered as the ground shook; from the blasts of the mighty Angel Zaruel's cross shaped beams which exploded above penetrating through several layers of fortified armour. The rhythmic beep of Toji's heart monitor the only sound in the room as Mari cuddled her Brothers chest for comfort having recovered from her injuries she hadn't left his side though she certainly wasn't alone. Sat in cushioned chairs next to the bed were Hikari and Kensuke. The browned haired class rep seemed to tremble involuntarily each time the hospital shook. Kensuke reached over and held her hand gently giving her a re-assuring smile.

"It's going to be ok Class rep" he said gently.

"If we're going to die here; the least you can do is call me Hikari", she said with a blush that tinted her cheeks a shade of pink.

"Okay Hikari", Kensuke said blushing himself as she huddled closer to him

Silence once again descended over the room.

(0-0-0)

With another mighty blast the cross shaped purple energy blast from Zaruel penetrated the Geo-fronts last layer of armour and the Fourteenth angel descended through the large hole with grace where it would face its destiny or be destroyed trying. The two sharp ribbon cutters compressed at its side but ready to strike at a moment's notice and ever deadly.

The blue Unit 00 piloted by Rei Ayanami and the red demon Unit 02 piloted by Asuka Soryu faced off against their angelic foe. The opponents faced each other as if waiting for the other to make the first move. Like an old fashioned Mexican stand off straight out of an old western movie.

"I think it would be best if we..." Rei started over the Tach-net

"Shut up! Wonder bitch!" Asuka screamed interrupting Rei and charging forward making the first move. Zaruel expected this and with one swift fluid movement the ribbon blades thrust forward into Unit 02 impaling it through the upper chest and pushing it back simultaneously.

"You bastard!" Asuka screamed in pain.

Rei used the momentary distraction to launch her own attack with a progressive sword but was equally defeated as the ribbon blades retracted and shot back out at her own Eva just as quickly and knocked her over onto a hillside.

"ARRRRRRRR" Asuka screamed as she opened fire with an 80mm rifle; the explosive shells striking the Angel dead centre as the roar of gunfire echoed around them. The rifle clicked empty but Asuka still had the trigger firmly pressed panting for breath. It took her by complete surprise as the two grey cutting blades shot out of the smoke caused by her attack and sliced into Rei's Eva at the waist which was just getting to its feet. Unit 00 collapsed backwards once again and Rei struggled to keep her Eva operational.

"Schiest!" Asuka yelled running to the arms locker and take out a large calibre cannon and emptying the drum magazine into the Angel, followed by two 4 cell missile launchers, and then duel wielding a pair of 80mm rifles.

"Die! Die! Die!" Asuka repeated maniacally; "I will not lose, I can not lose, I don't need anyone!"

In fact Asuka went through every weapon in the arms locker and kept firing until the ammunition was dry but it wasn't enough as the by now familiar ribbon cutters sliced through the Red demon at the shoulders. Unit 02's arms fell to the ground with a crash; rifles in hand.

"Schist!" Asuka shouted charging forward as the ribbon cutters retracted but strike out like lightning severing Unit 02's torso from its legs sending Asuka's Eva crashing to the ground by some miracle still upright.

"Fight me! Fight me! I am not defeated, I'm not!" Asuka screamed as the Angel Severed the Evas head with one fluid movement the nerve connections cut barely in time. Unit 02 went silent.

Rei Charged towards the Angel, at speed using Asuka's defeat to distract the angel long enough to mount her attack. The Angel turned to see her but it was too late to avoid the assault as an N2 Mine was pushed through the AT field by Rei using all the strength she had left.

A blinding flash

The Roar of a hurricane

For a brief moment, time stopped.

The explosion engulfed everything in white light and fire as the N2 mine detonated throwing Rei's Eva and the Angel back from the blast. When it was over however, the Angel was still standing. Unit 00 was silent.

Zaruel swelled with pride; he had taken the best these mortals had to offer and survived; he had finally succeeded where his Brethren had failed; now to punish the mortals for defying the gods and to reclaim Adam and free Lilith from the hands of mortal men. These mortals would learn you do not meddle with god's toys.

Zaruel looked at the command centre that had been the problem for so many of this brothers and sisters, that had cost the lives of so many of this kind. He felt his anger rise; his unabated rage manifested itself as he prepared to annihilate the command centre and anyone in it to dust. The penultimate moment came; satisfaction swelled inside him as he was about to complete his task and avenge his brothers and sisters when out of no where he was blind sided and rammed through several layers of concrete.

The heavy walls crumbled as the purple behemoth kept pushing with all its might; until there were no more walls to break against and Zaruel went flying backwards knocked off its feet for the first time. The Purple whirlwind known as Unit 01 stood ready to do mortal combat with its deadly angelic foe.

Shinji Ikari sat in the cockpit panting.

"I won't let you down, I won't let any one down again", Shinji spoke to himself like a Mantra; "I'm through with running!" he yelled. Shinji willed Unit 01 forward and the purple mechs monster fist slammed into the face of Zaruel, which was thrown back again for the second time.

Zaruel recovered faster this time and with lightning reflex used its ribbon cutters to sever Unit 01's arm just below the shoulder. The unit howled in pain and Shinji with it as he felt his arm being cut off. Zaruel was impressed but would not stop its relentless attack as it impaled unit 01 against a tree, before slicing away its outer armour. The pain was too much for both Eva and Pilot as unit 01 went silent.

"Come on!" Shinji yelled using the control yolks. "Come on! You have to move" he repeated.

Zaruel stripped away the outer armour of the silent beast and started to use its ribbon cutters on the core. The clank could be heard even inside the cockpit.

"Move damn you! Move, please, move. For once do what I say. Please. Move, move now I need you to move!" he pleaded in pure desperation.

Darkness

A Flash of Blue

Water dripping.

Love.

"Mother…." Shinji sobbed as he passed out.

The purple mecha suddenly rose to its feet, growling with anger as it reached out and grabbed one of the ribbon cutters mid thrust and yanked Zaruel towards it, until they were eye to eye.

With one hard yank the Ribbon cutter blade was torn from the Angel; next moment the same hand was used as a Fist swung around at the angels face sending it reeling backwards in pain. Yui was awake; and she was very, very pissed off.

Using the angel's Ribbon blade she used its material to reform her arm and with the ferocity of a wild animal began a relentless assault on the angel of might. Tearing into its flesh with her bare hands, ripping the proud angelic warrior to nothing but bits of flesh and bone with blood splattering the landscape in pure unabated rage.

As she tore into the angel her rage only seemed to grow in strength as she kept tearing at the now dead angel and eating its flesh like some kind of cannibalistic ritual. Her fury and blood lust only seemed to grow plates of armour splintered, cracked; exploded and fell away. Yui was awake and did not like having a collar; a grotesque grey sack grew from her back and integrated itself into her body - she had grown an S2 Engine.

Finally after what seemed like forever to everyone but was only in actuality a few minutes Unit 01, or more Yui finally calmed down and went silent.

Everyone was shocked, Misato and Ritsuko stood on in awe; while Maya was busy throwing up in a bush

"My God" Misato said shocked.

"She's awake", was all that Ritsuko could say.

**Authors Notes:** Sincerely sorry for taking so bloody long to get this out; been REAL busy; Degree work is a bitch and its dissertation time; my pre-reader also apologises for taking his sweet time we're both busy with real life stuff.


	6. Thirty Days Part One

Chapter 6: Thirty Days - Part 1 _Shinji – The Bowls of Unit 01_

It felt horridly hot, like someone had left the thermostat at a hundred and it'd been running all day dumping heat into the room till everything caught fire and burned everything to dust. Shinji awoke; eyes wide and sat up straight taking a deep breath into his lungs like it was his first for a long time; his skin felt like it was on fire inside the white and blue plug suit and his heart felt like it was pumping battery acid. Shinji was in a desert; the heat coming down on his face from the sun; looking up he saw a red sky with bright…green stars neatly shaped like mini crucifixes bathing the area in an off red/green hue. The sand was an off red-orange colour too and stretched out as far as Shinji could see and likely well past the horizon. No sign of civilisation; no sign of life; no buildings, no people, no Tokyo Three, nothing except sand dune after sand dune and hot red dust on his feet; which was slowly burning into the souls of his feet and his ankles giving him blisters. Shinji looked around wearily trying to get his barring; it felt like he'd been here for days slowly cooking without remembering how he got here or where here was.

"They had to drop me by helicopter right?" he thought stopping to regain his baring again and looking around for any sign of civilisation again as if he was playing the groundhog in a pre-impact movie forever doomed to repeating himself.

The Last thing Shinji remembered was… actually he couldn't remember anything past waking here laying on his back in 50 degree heat sweat dripping from his face cooking in his own juices and parched for a drink of water. In the faint distance there was something in the sky in place of the moon; Shinji swore it was a woman but it was far too faint to really tell, a ghost, a phantom of the Vail between the worlds.

"Where am I?" Shinji asked himself since there was no one else here; it just seemed like the right thing to do; "Am I dead?" he spoke, not even questioning the madness of asking himself questions he clearly had no answers to.

(No)

Shinji jumped out of his skin and looked around for the source of the voice. He saw no one, nothing, not even a wind to disturb the sand; "is this hell?" he looked kept spinning around but saw nothing but desert in every direction, or was it the world that was spinning? Shinji really did not known or care at this point.

(No)

Shinji still had no idea where the voice was coming from but it sounded like Ayanami; only older; more mature but just as soft and gentle; comforting in a way he couldn't understand. The words seemed to wrap around him and comfort him like a mother's hug, like a lover's kiss, like a familiar blanket, like his SDAT on track 23. A Voice he knew by instinct; a memory long forgotten like a faded movie playing in his head he couldn't hold on to.

"Who are you?" Shinji called out

(I am Alpha and Omega; I am the beginning and the end.)

"What…am I doing here?" Shinji asked suddenly feeling a lot smaller.

(Finding what your heart desires)

"And what is that?" Shinji called out.

(Only you know that Shinji)

"How do I find out?" Shinji swallowed nervously; his throat dry and feeling like he'd just chewed on Razor wire.

The Voice was silent.

(0000)

_Shinji and Asuka's Apartment, Tokyo III - Present_

Shinji sat in the apartment reading a book; it was written in English; languages were one of Shinji's hobbies post impact; he found like liked learning new ones in fact Shinji could now speak twenty six separate languages more than he would probably ever have a use for. When the world ended and there was only Asuka for Company, he realised that he'd go mad if he didn't do something to keep the mind active. So reading became his outlet, he read everything he could get his hands on from the works of Shakespeare to those crappy self help books written by TV Chefs. The particular book that Shinji was reading looked old; Pre-Second impact and bound in leather with gold lettering on the front; titled 'the collective works of Fredrick Nietzsche'. An old crimson and battered red bookmarker lay inside the paper folds; Shinji had obviously spent a lot of time reading the book since it was well worn.

Asuka was sat on the other side of the room; in a pair of short shorts and a red tank top with her legs curled up under her playing some hand held console game with furious intent. Shinji could hear the 'ping, ping, zap' of the game as she played obviously doing rather well. The Living situation with Asuka had got rather tense in the last several days between them; Shinji would offer breakfast or dinner and Asuka would go out of her way to either snap at him; ignore him or simply leave. Shinji didn't know why and part of him really didn't care anymore but he had chosen to let her do her own thing As long as she didn't interfere with his mission. The Mission was paramount; The Mission was above all, The Mission was the most important thing they were here for and superseded any personal problems Asuka may be having with him, The Mission was all he had left.

Shinji's thoughts were drawn to Maya; closing his eyes he could picture her face; smiling; happy; he remembered in perfect crystal detail there wedding day; her scent; the way she laughed; the cute thing she did with her tongue… Shinji sighed to himself; a photographic memory was both his blessing and his curse. He knew this because it hadn't always been this good…

(0000)

_Shinji – Flashback, Post Third Impact, November, 15__th__, 2015 AD_

He looked up into the sky it wasn't blue anymore not blue like he remembered now it was red, a dark brooding crimson like someone had opened every can of red paint in the world and thrown it up into the air and covered the sky with it. Or maybe every angel in existence had suddenly died and sprayed the heavens with their blood - either was possible. He simply stared at it unblinkingly as if in pure disbelief, he was alive, why was he alive? He could not explain it He had let everyone down why had he been spared; this was so wrong. Third impact had taken place, he had failed everything that he had fought for, all the pain and suffering he had endured was for nothing. The Black moon of Lilith was Still high in the sky casting its dark shadow across the earth and the headless rotting giant corpse of 'Rei Ayanami' decomposing into the sea of blood; thousands of green crucifixes twinkling like stars with an ethereal glow. He remembered this scene, he had seen this before.

He didn't deserve to be alive did he? He looked up and watched the twinkling crosses, raising high into the sky, it was almost beautiful, Almost. Something pulled at his stomach that he couldn't explain, Some knot deep inside he didn't know why but he knew; - he _knew_ they were peoples souls, and that he had killed them with as good as his own hands.

Misato, Rei, Ritsuko, Kensuke, Touji, Hikari and Father they were all gone because he failed – Even Maya; the bridge bunny tech that once smiled at him was now gone; everyone he ever loved or cared about or even remotely knew was dead because of him.

For some inexplicable reason he suddenly turned his head and looked at the red head next to him. She had survived. Was this his punishment for failing the earth to spend the rest of his life with her. A thought crossed his mind, maybe he DID die and this was hell. Condemned spending all eternity with the one who hates you the more than anything in the world; that would be poetic justice wouldn't it? A kind of karma, Shinji had given up long ago on a benevolent all merciful god; no if god existed then he was worse than any devil, a malevolent god, a god that enjoyed hurting people just because he could. Perhaps that is truly what the Angels were trying to teach mankind; that god did not love us, never wanted us and maybe even hated us, That Humanity was a cosmic mistake, a universal joke, a miss-fire in an un-tuned engine, or maybe god just forgot to pull out.

Driven by an urge, even he himself didn't understand, perhaps he just snapped, perhaps the universe had finally done what all the angels could not; they had destroyed the humanity in Shinji Ikari and the madness took over. More animal than man he Straddled the red head and started to squeeze the life out of her refusing to accept his fate.

If God truly hated him that much to condemn him to the Fate of spending eternity with Asuka, if this was the end he would go kicking and screaming into the night. A primal instinct taking over his body as his hands clasped tighter and tighter around the bitch's neck; "Kill the bitch; Kill the bitch; she has it coming" repeating in his minds eyes like a twisted mantra. He could feel her blood pumping under his hands as she struggled to breathe as his hands squeezed tighter a manic laughter took over his soul. She certainly deserved to die more than he did right? She was the real monster, she was the one that constantly teased him, berated him, humiliated him, every jibe, every cutting remark, every bad action cutting through his soul. If God hated him and humanity, then so be it, he would reject god, screw damnation and redemption. He would become the devil, a mad devil, and the monster that everyone seemed to think of him.

Suddenly aware of a pressing on her throat as she started to come too in a haze, feeling a lack of air Asuka started to struggle more, a trapped wolf will chew off its own paw to escape; its survival instinct is that strong, so was Asuka's.

With every effort she could muster from her arms, her vision hazy and blacking out intermittently; every ounce of strength, drop of blood and pint of sweat that made up her being, _Asuka wanted to live_. She used it all to push Shinji off her far enough to get some air in her lungs and to bring her other arm up and punch him; right in the face. Sadly, even her adrenaline failed her and what started as a punch designed to knock her attackers block off ended up more as a touch; a kind soft stroke to his cheek. Asuka's one eye; blue and tearful resigned to her fate she no longer had the strength to fight anymore; the other a vacant black taken by the mass-produced series a hole where her eye should have been.

Looking into her teary eye and that void of black, where her beautiful eye used to be, he had seen this before, seen this moment in time. Shinji felt all strength leave him as suddenly as it had come; as if lucidity and reality had come crashing down on him like a brick to the face. He didn't have the strength to hate Asuka; to hate took energy and effort, neither of which he had in large enough quantities anymore; he had stared into the abyss and it had looked into him. He flopped down next to her and started to cry, he cried for every Panda that wouldn't screw to save its species. He cried for dump valves on oil tankers that smother all the French beaches he'd never see. he cried for all the things he would never amount too. He cried for all the people he had let down; he cried for Rei, he cried for Misato, he cried until his eyes burned. As he cried, he realised, this is exactly what he deserved. If this was hell then it was a fitting end for that of Shinji Ikari, destroyer of mankind, Murderer of all who dared care about him and Son of the Evil bastard Gendo Ikari. If God truly hated him then maybe this wasn't gods sick sense of humour as much as it was; his Punishment, it was Simply Retribution and Shinji would bare this burden.

A fate that Shinji knew was sealed when Asuka spoke for the first time as he sobbed beside her curled up in the featal position. " Weakling, you couldn't even kill me right, your pathetic, you little pervert, I hate you", she said, her tone one of utter disgust, contempt and lack of any empathy.

Shinji smiled, despite himself, accepting his fate to spend in Hell or if not it was at least as good as. This was his penance; this was his path to absolution and maybe then somehow others would forgive him; because he couldn't ever see the day when he would forgive himself.

.(0000)

_Shinji and Asuka's Apartment, Tokyo III - Present_

Shinji snapped out of his memory, out of his sleep, out of his dreams and nightmares to the sound of Asuka slamming the door to go somewhere; where he didn't know; and again part of him despite himself – didn't care. That was how he learned to survive; by adapting to his environment; fight like a demon, become cold like ice, hard like steel; learning to suppress the boy he once was to become strong instead of weak; except for Maya. She had been his own personal saviour; his redemption, his cleansing and the love of his life, if Shinji could believe in a soul mate, that if god still allowed him that, it would be Maya. He missed her terribly, taking out a photo from his wallet and staring at it, they were both in it; Shinji and Maya, both were smiling and she was throwing out a peace sign towards the camera. She was happy, that was clear despite the fading of the photo; Shinji had made one person happy. He remembered her words to him; said the first night that they had made love;

"One Child, We are not beyond redemption as long as we can still hear the laughter of one child. No matter how dark we become or how far we fall while we still hear the laughter of one child we are not beyond hope", Maya had said to him

Shinji sighed, it was easy, too easy to slip back into old habits; like an old glove left for many years. Maya had made him a better man and for that; he could never repay her, Shinji truly feared the person he could become without her there to help him, to guide him, to keep him good. He knew the changes he was making weren't enough, that he would have to become a bigger monster then SEELE because sometimes you can't fight evil with a greater good; just a different kind of evil, he remembered someone once saying send a monster to fight a monster. He sighed thinking of Maya, wondered to himself if the ends truly justified the means.

(0000)

_Asuka; Streets of Tokyo III_

Asuka had left the small apartment she shared with Shinji and took a walk through the cool night air of the early morning that only those accustomed to the night could truly understand. A mist seemed to hang over the city but Asuka could see perfectly her right eye awash with the colours of Thermal night vision easily able to cut through the fog and darkness.

She had to leave; the air between them was so tense it was almost palpable; Asuka kept wondering if Shinji had known what she did; even thought he just sat there reading that damn book and couldn't possibly have known, and certainly never acted like he did. But she felt like he knew as her conscience ate away at her, that and the cries in his sleep unsettled her, even now he still had the nightmares. In the end Asuka had decided to take a walk; Weather was certainly an odd thing in Tokyo III post second impact; despite the mist surrounding her usually associated with more cold environments it was comfortably warm. Dressed in her light tan combat pants loose fitting top and red leather trench coat she doubted she'd meet anyone out in this fog. Though she could here Footsteps echoing behind her in nearly perfect time with her own; someone was following her, that someone with enough skill to know how to mask their presence. He or she camouflaging there footsteps timing them with her own was not an easy skill to learn and usually required proper training.

However there were some perks to being the 'bionic bitch' as Kensuke called her often enough after she got her new eye and had her arm repaired with cybernetics Shinji had designed himself, Third Impact had given him time to learn new skill sets. The person following was however very, very good; Asuka deliberately altered her rhythm and ducked down to tie her boot lace; though in actuality she was checking behind her to see how far back her tail was. At first glance there appeared to be no one; only dark shadows cast from the street lamps. Switching her over to pure Infrared; her eye washed over in a myriad of colours from heat sources around her; she easily spotted the shape of a male hanging back in one of the darker shadows.

'There you are" she thought to herself. Before righting herself and continuing along the pavement till she rounded a corner. Waiting for ten to twenty seconds she then turned back on herself and turned back around the corner from which she'd just came; in time to step right up to her tail. She quickly grabbed the person by the arm and altered her footing to side step and counter his attempt to return the favour of the blow she landed; then wrenching the offenders arm up behind his back and towards the upper part of his spine. She then pushed her weight into him and slammed him against the wall using her cybernetic arm she could probably snap his arm out from his shoulder before he ever escaped, the whole thing taking a matter of seconds thanks to the element of surprise.

"Why are you following me?" She demanded angrily and pushing the man's arm up slightly causing her victim and now prisoner pain, something she had learnt to inflict far to well over the years.

"I was curious about you" the man replied in a cool voice; far too cool considering the amount of pain she should be inflicting upon him, he definitely had training. As he spoke however realisation dawned on her as she switched her eye back to Thermal night vision, her other human eye unable to make out the details in the fog.

"Kaji?"

(0000)

_Shinji (Inside the Bowls of Unit 01)_

Shinji had been walking for what felt like days; but it could just as easily have been hours…there was no concept of time here it seemed; just the burning hot sand under his feet. He had set off in the general direction of the large 'thing' in the sky which had become horridly clear the closer he got; the sky above was now a mixed net of velvet puncture holes that looked like stars. Where the moon should have been the absurd horror was in its place; a giant cloud of crimson swirled around a monstrous headless body of Rei Ayanami. As Shinji crossed the latest sand dune A New Assault upon his senses, was caused by an even more terrifying sight before him, if one could believe such a thing. A white sand beach stretched for miles but with it was a red-sea that lapped at the shore in a rhythmic pattern. Shinji dropped to his knees digging his hands through the powdery grains and stared at the ocean. It took a moment for him to realise it, but It was blood he knew that; - an ocean of blood reaching out forever and ever along the white sands in every direction he could see with the huge desert Shinji had crossed behind him stretching out to the horizon.

Shinji flexed his hands through the sand letting white channels of the stuff fall through his fingers. He peered out across the ocean of blood and saw thousands of poles jutting from the water line with people dangling from them by their necks like they'd been hung or were puppets on strings. The closest one was practically at the shore. Shinji took in the image of a small girl in a pink overall dress and white blouse that hung from the pole with a thick braided rope around her neck. It was Ayanami again; this one however had no facial features of any kind like it had been completely removed; the blue hair framing the void area where her face should have been with black stitching in a cross pattern sealing her eye-sockets. A sign hung from her chest on a small string around her neck reading: "YOUR ATTEMPT AT LIFE HAS FAILED" in glowing green neon.

He noticed that most of the others he could make out read the same, far into the distance; they were all Ayanami, _all_ equally faceless, All dressed the same, all with the same sign. He stared at the Ayanami's hanging from the poles. There was something about her white stocking legs just hanging in the breeze that gave him the chills not that the sealed eyes did much better. Another thing that hit him was that there was no wind, no breeze of any kind but waves kept rolling up the shore and the Ayanami's hanging from the poles were swaying like they were caught in a phantom wind that only they could feel. He got to his feet, the bare soles burying themselves in the sand and burning against his skin; the nerve endings long since numbed to the pain of burning flesh; like sticking your hand in White Phosphorus.

"I've been here before" he thought; "but when?" His memories were muddled, like a clay pot on a spinning wheel that suddenly falls apart in the sculptor's hand.

(This is the beginning and the end)

The voice whispered in his head; the same one from before, whether it was outside around him or in his head; he did not known.

(What is it you wish for, Shinji)

The Voice asks softly, on the shore of the beach images flash in Shinji's mind. Images of people he's known and people he will know. Past, present future all melding seamlessly. The face of a woman that is chalk white with crimson eyes, a man with a beard and white gloves, A Woman with Midnight hair. He knows these people but not how. A young girl with a love of the colour red, A name rings in his head, one louder than all the ghosts that have come to visit him, A name on the tip of his tongue, Her name ringing in his mind like a church bell.

"Maya…" He whispers.

"I'm Here Shinji." A voice says from behind him; different to the one that's been in his head; was it in his head? The new voice raspier and more gravely but equally as warm but wrapping around him more like a lover than a mothers yet still distinctly feminine.

Shinji turns from the shore; towards the new voice just now realising he's been standing there for some time staring at the endless Ayanami's. The woman behind him is striking in appearance. Cream coloured skin, midnight coloured short hair and green eyes that pull at every muscle in his body in a way Shinji couldn't explain or possibly understand.

"Who are you?" Shinji asks, even though every fibre of his being knows the answer.

"I don't know." The woman says; No…not the woman, Maya, Shinji thinks correcting himself.

"How do I know that I love you?" She asks.

"I don't know."

"Do you?"

"No."

"Where are we?" Her green eyes vibrate in their sockets.

"I don't know." Shinji says.

Maybe this is part of it, whatever it is, or maybe he has just gone mad. The white sand, the dead swirling headless Rei, the Blood Sea… there was something before all of this, he was almost sure of it. Can almost taste it. The ghosts in his head have vanished again for the time being. Are they ghosts? He doesn't know. He barely knows himself. "I woke up here." He says.

"Did I? Or was that a dream too?" He asks himself

"Do I know you?" Maya asks. She pulls back strands of black hair that had fallen in her face, Her perfect sharp face that resonates warmth and love and all things good with the world.

"I don't know." Shinji says. "I'm not even sure who I am."

"I know the feeling." Maya says. Her face clouds over for a moment. "Does Tokyo III mean anything to you?"

Shinji frowns. "No…not that I remember."

The woman nods and extends her hand. "Maya Ibuki"

He takes it gently relishing the touch of her skin against his. "Shinji Ikari"

Then reality liquefied

The ground beneath Shinji's feet crumbled and the sky went from its velvet colour to a crimson red, the sand burned and caught alight in a firestorm that scorched the earth. He fell into the dark crevice opening under him the very earth swallowing him whole, still falling for what seemed like forever in total darkness. He was surrounded by images of his past that flooded his senses; like someone had just pushed the total recall button every action, thought deed lay bare before him; His mother dying His father walking away. His teachers looking away in disgust after he failed. His uncle slapping him across the face and telling him to leave. His Father's smirk plastered across his face. The Third angel and complete loss of control as the Eva goes berserk. His skin seemed to catch alight and he felt the pain of being boiled alive in the Entry plug. Almost killing his friends, again and again, His father wanting to use the Dummy plug to replace him; being swallowed by the angel in the sea of dirac, Asuka berating him again and again; the angel going berserk in animalistic rage, a presence around him he could taste. Waking up on a beach; trying to kill Asuka,, Kissing Misato, Making love to Maya for the first time. Everything that had ever happened to him, everything that ever would happen to him had flashed around him imprinting itself on his mind. When the barrage of images reached full circle they would but start again; faster and faster, Shinji was now crying.

"I mustn't run away, I mustn't run away", still falling into the darkness; into the bottomless pit; into the abyss. Shinji finally hit bottom with a hard thud, feeling like the moth whom had walked to close to the flame. The darkness surrounding him, the cold floor felt smooth to the touch, it was Marble or felt like marble and Shinji was on his knee's crying into his hands.

A single spotlight shone down from the unbelievably tall ceiling onto a large throne that stood atop a tall marble staircase with several smaller thrones in front of it. On the throne sat a dark figure dressed in all black, his face hidden from sight, or he had no face, from the distance it was hard to tell; on the remaining seats sat three figures equally dressed with long hoods pulled down over there faces hiding there features.

"Step forward and prepare to be judged Shinji Ikari", the Figures said in a unified voice which would scare even the hardest of combat veterans. Shinji said nothing and simply stepped forward as instructed by now truly broken.

"Your time for judgement has come" the figures took down there hoods; atop the largest of the thrones was a Gendo Ikari; and under him was a Misato; an Asuka and a Rei Ayanami, all equally faceless, all had there eyes sewn shut.

"You ran away from everything, Shinji, you're a coward"; The Asuka said simply.

"That's not true, I pilot Eva", Shinji argued.

"You Pilot Eva because you are to scared to tell your father that you will not" The Misato replied

"You can't run away from yourself Shinji"; The Ayanami said.

"You are insignificant"; The Ayanami replied

"A coward", The Misato Added

"A pervert", The Asuka Shrilled

"Nothing but a little child", The Gendo added

"You do not deserve to live any longer", The Misato added

"You have wasted your existence" Ayanami replied

"You are pathetic" The Gendo spoke.

"You are Weak" The Ayanami said.

"You are a Failure", The Misato said.

"Your attempt at life has failed!" The Asuka shrilled in a triumphant voice

A moment later the floor under Shinji opened up again and reality liquefied, he was back on the beach this time from a different perspective, it was he hanging from the rope by his neck in the ocean of blood. Around his neck and over his chest was the large neon sign so familiar by now his body swaying in the phantom wind and he could feel his eyes being sewn shut even against his will.

Shinji screamed

(0000) _Shinji – Tokyo III (Present)_

Shinji had left not long after Asuka to meet a contact that he had emailed; which somehow had led him to this bar. The bar he'd stepped into after leaving the apartment was called "The Recently Departed", a fitting a name as any considering how today was turning out. The bar was smoky and old; and generally very wooden like a bar dive you'd find in the Red light district; along the actual bar were stools, which were undoubtedly occupied by the regulars as they nursed there drinks and broken lives.

Shinji ordered a drink; something simple just a Whisky; he was planning to get drunk; and not little league drunk no Shinji was planning on getting full out frat-boy on a four day bender drunk. A chill ran through his ribs like someone had shoved dry ice just below the skin as he sat down. From under his shirt he could feel Maya's wedding ring burning against his chest; she'd given it to him the last night they had made love before he left. He looked down at the amber brown swill, which had been served up to him; it has a strangely empty feeling coupled with it.

He thought about Rei.

He thought about Asuka

He thought about Misato

He Thought about Touji and Ritsuko

They were all dead, All because of Him.

And they went there willingly. Shinji lead them to that cold dark place and left them there like they were subway tokens. And by the time this is over he would have the blood of a whole lot more people all over his hands. Enough to swim in for an eternity. And all he could feel is a displaced sense of apathy. This is the path he had chosen. He knew the consequences, or at least He thought He did. In the distance he could hear the crescendo of wailing police sirens as people went about their business; the world turned; life went on. Shinji knew deep down that he was not one of them; he was no hero; hero's get a choice and in Tokyo III the good and the just were like gold dust. He never had a choice, not really one that he could make. He took a long shot sized gulp of his whisky.

"Drinking to forget?" the Barman asked; a rather large fellow with a bushy beard and a flat cap pulled down over his eyes.

"Drinking to remember"

"Ah; that is indeed a worthy reason to drink lad; what's got you so glum?" the barman pushed; an ever so slight hint of an Irish accent pushing through a thicker and harder Japanese one; like he was plastering one on top of the other. Shinji overlooked just what an Irish bar was doing in Tokyo in favour of some company and more hard alcohol, definitely the hard alcohol.

"Well…I've lost everything I've ever known including the woman I love" Shinji replied with a sigh as the barkeep topped up Shinji's glass.

"Shit happens" the barkeep replied.

"It just seems to have a bad habit of happening to me"

A Man came in and sat down next to him; he was fairly tall; dark hair; obviously foreign; more than likely American; "The rain is terrible this time of year" he said to Shinji while ordering a drink.

"Nothing lasts forever in the cold November Rain"; Shinji replied; it was the pass-phrase that he had been given; obviously someone was a Guns 'n' Roses fan; the man smiled and lit a fat cigar which had been pre-cut. He brought the large stoogie to his mouth and puffed and smirked to himself at some of the disgusted looks of punters behind him at the tables.

The man smiled; "If your going to kill yourself look bad ass doing it", he said. Shinji nodded in agreement; "So you need some hardware", he said in a thick Texan drawl switching to English.

"I do" Shinji replied; in fluid English tongue and pushed over a list down to the man who read it over.

"That's some serious persuaders son; you starting a world war?" the man asked cigar hanging from his bottom lip; the distinct smell of a hand rolled Cuban wafting around.

"I have everything I need, this is for a friend", Shinji replied.

"Ok; what do you have for me?" the man asked.

Shinji passed the man a key; the key itself was brass coated with a red top and a number etched into it. '47'. "That key opens a locker on the Tokyo III Subway; inside is half of a piece of paper containing winning lottery numbers; deliver my goods and you'll get the second half of the paper; enough to make you a very, very rich man" Shinji replied.

"Alright; give me a few weeks"

"A few weeks" Shinji said in agreement before downing his drink and ordering another as the man left

(0000)

_Asuka – Tokyo III_

Asuka and Kaji sat in an all night coffee shop; Asuka was nursing a cappuccino while Kaji simply opted for good old fashioned 'coffee flavoured coffee' as he put it.

"You have a hell of a grip there red", Kaji said with his ever present smile and remarking about her vibrant fiery red hair. Even Asuka couldn't help but smile as she remembered how charming the master spy was

"I work out" she said with a shrug not willing to explain about her arm at the time; or the cold touch it left her with; "You never did explain why you were following me" she said changing the subject.

"I was curious; I told you", Kaji replied with a grin; "Besides most people I sleep with don't run out of my house terrified afterwards", he added and his grin turned into a playful and childish smirk.

"Sorry about that…I just kind of freaked out" she said a tint of red on her cheeks.

"I noticed" Kaji replied.

"It was nothing to do with you; really. It was me" she added.

"Who are you really Miss Fiona?" Kaji asked; "I did some checking and…you don't appear to exist; even though you do bare a striking resemblance to someone I know, so who do you work for?"

"I can't tell you that Kaji; but I will tell you this; there are people out there trying to change the world and not for the better, people with enough influence and power to be above the law. I am one of the good guys trying to stop them, because sometimes Kaji; the law is inadequate and it takes people like me to bring the truth back into the room" Asuka said with a tired sigh. It was a close to the truth that she could say without breaking Shinji's rules, sometimes the truth set you free, other times it killed you.

"You mean SEELE" Kaji said, looking around as if saying the very name brought damnation to all who heard it.

Asuka Nodded slowly.

"What do you know about them?" Kaji asked easily; attempting to probe her knowledge.

"Bad Guys; practically own the UN; have some rather nasty plans for the human race; very well connected and Commander Ikari is working for them" Asuka said simply.

Kaji shook his head; sadly this he already knew; "The Commander is working for them but; he also has his own agenda; I do not know what that agenda is but for now I believe SEELE serves the Commander's purpose. Though my sources tell me that SEELE grows inpatient with the commander" he said. He regretted the half-truths but at this point tipping his hand early could prove fatal.

"SEELE will tolerate Command Ikari; as long as he controls the Evangelions; whatever there plan is; it requires Unit 01 while Ikari possesses it SEELE will not move against him", Asuka said.

Kaji nodded "I suspected as much; but do not underestimate SEELE, they will go to any length to possess Unit 01 for there plans, I doubt even Ikari will be able to hold them back forever, they will tire of his games"

Asuka Shuddered, remembering all too well what SEELE had cost her when they had come to claim the Evangelions for their plans. "Time is not on our side; but for now; we do have the time" she said

"Kaji; promise me you won't go in any air ducts any time soon?" Asuka asked looking at him directly; but placing her one hand on top of his own. He was taken a back somewhat by the intensity of her gaze; he had only ever seen that look before on Misato

"I promise" he said.

(0000(

_Shinji – Inside the bowls of Unit 01_

Shinji twisted and turned on the rope trying desperately to free himself eventually managing to brace himself against the poll and use his legs to leaver his body up enough to get some slack on the ropes that held him in place and slowly slipped his neck out. Though with nothing holding his upper body now…he fell again; into the ocean of blood; and sank like a stone. Shinji swam through delirium like a small child lost in the woods after dark. Shattered images kept coming to him of Maya lain out on the floor shivering, Misato being shot by someone from the shadows. Of Asuka and the bruised flesh of her arm marked by a single needle still hanging out of her vein, of father laughing madly, of his wedding to Maya, of his best friend Kensuke showing hum a photo of his kids and a smiling Hikari.

A second later it would flash into a long dusty road and he could see hundreds of children mobbing him trying to tear him to pieces, which would melt, into bits and pieces of reality. Flashes of being in the cockpit of unit 01 and he had a strange sense of déjà vu that he'd been here before but he wasn't sure and then things liquefied again and he was standing in a monstrous pit of darkness once more. Only it wasn't entirely dark this time, he knew this because he could open his eyes; for whatever reason his sight had been returned to him. Thick syrupy water came up to his knees and in the stuff he could see objects submerged. A sock here, keys over there, part of a car muffler stuck out of the sludge at an odd angle where a black crow perched on it eyeing him hungrily with its beady eyes.

Jutting out of the thick amber goo were hundreds of thousands of crosses that emanated a bluish light hue directly from inside them. A weird sort of light blue neon glow provided the little light there was. He couldn't see any walls, it was like the blackness around him stretched out everywhere in all directions to never end. Every direction he looked he saw a sea of those crosses and more junk, a bulk of a car was actually off in the distance. He took a step through the murky syrup stuff and headed forward not knowing why other than it was as good a direction as any. His foot knocked through a pile of junk that looked like the sort of stuff little kids might lose in school. Pencils, binders, a yo-yo, more clothes, part of what looked like a busted TV monitor, movies (Shinji was actually surprised and slightly amused to see a DVD copy of the terminator submerged in the junk).

"What is this place?" Shinji asked; searching for the voice that had been his companion since he arrived in this strange land

(The End)

"How did I get here?"

(I do not know)

"You sound scared" Shinji said out loud the voice having a different tone to it than when he was in the desert, but still distinctly the same person or being.

(Because I am. This is where all life comes to die)

Shinji parted a few of the glowing crosses with his foot and moved onward. Up ahead he could make out the dim vague shape of what looked like a Volkswagen Beetle. It was still too far away to tell with the dim neon light around him but he was fairly sure that's what it was. And he was almost sure of something else. There was something, or someone moving around by it. He grunted as his feet caught something in the muck and then reached down to untangle himself from what felt like a man's belt. Frowning he pulled the thing out of the syrupy water and tossed it to his right not bothering to see where it landed. His eyes focused on the Beetle ahead as he made his way towards it. A drawing force was building inside his chest and he knew that's where he was supposed to go. Something was waiting for him there, something bigger than he was.

(What if it's something bad)

"Then it's bad and we're screwed" Shinji said

(Thanks for the comfort)

He passed a mound of clothes, mostly socks and then weaved his way around what looked like a submerged oven from the 60's. The closer the got the more he could make out. There were three figures around the Bug and it definitely was a bug. They started to look like Ayanami's; Small ones, the size of four-year-olds it looked like. One was sitting on the hood of the car, another inside poking out through the drivers side door and a third leaned up against the non-existent trunk. Shinji strolled up to the Bug as best he could with the thick amber stuff weighing him down. Three little Ayanami's stared at him, all identical with powder blue hair and chalk white skin and large black eyes except for the one sitting on the hood, her eyes were sewn shut. Shinji shivered at the sight. They were dressed in identical jumpsuits that looked like a combination skirt overall sort of thing in a deep shade of blue. They all wore white blouses with small ribbon red ties at the collar.

The Ayanami sitting inside the car had a mad feverish look to her black eyes that Shinji didn't like, didn't like one bit. The one leaning on the side of the car just stared at him with a stoic expression far to advance for her age.

(They're ageless)

"Who are they?" Shinji asked.

"So he arrives!" The Ayanami in the car squealed. She clamped a hand over her mouth and started to giggle, but they sounded more like screams. A second later she started to gnaw at her hand with a perfect set of white teeth, the canines a little too sharp for comfort. Blood started to flow from the hand. The girl pulled away and looked at it an honest expression of shock coming over her face like she couldn't understand why chewing herself would draw blood.

"Stop that." The second Ayanami on the hood of the car said.

"Stop what?" The first replied.

"I may not be able to see you but I can hear just fine, don't be coy with guests here." The Second on the hood said. Shinji found his gaze drifting back over and over again to the thick black thread that had been pushed through her eyelids holding them shut. He shuddered with the painfully vivid memories of his earlier experience.

"You're no fun." The one in the car muttered.

"There's no guest here." The Ayanami by the trunk said. Her eyes narrowed.

"Don't lie", The Ayanami on the hood said. A smile crossed her face that looked childish and older than the universe at the same time. "Shinji Ikari…it's a wonder to finally met you."

"And who are you?" Shinji asked trying not to sound as terrified and freaked out as he actually was.

The Aynami's smile came over her face again. "You do not recognise us? We're the three sisters of Ayanami"

(This is bad)

"Why?" Shinji thought asking

The voice didn't answer.

"Time has made us a little…eccentric you could say." The Second Ayanami said. Her eyes rolled under the sewn up lids. "My sister in the car has gone quite mad over the last million years or so. And; the third of us over there has a nasty habit of lying though she tells the truth at times…I'd be able to tell you if she was or wasn't but as you can see my eyes are of no use to me anymore."

"Sounds fucking fantastic." Shinji said. He dropped his head into his hands. Something about this was going to be horribly confusing and come to nothing. He already knew that. Aggravation flustered in his chest.

"OoooOOoo…he said a no-no." The first cooed from inside the car. She popped the inside of her elbow into her mouth and started to gnaw there and then stopped like she'd suddenly remembered what happened to her hand. As a substitute she shoved her fingernails into her mouth and started to mow them to the bristle.

"He's gay." The Third said. "So gay."

"Hush yourself, liar." The Second said. She folded her hands into her lap and looked sullen for a moment. "You'll have to pardon her, Shinji. She was unfortunate to be blessed with a bad attitude."

"No offence taken." Shinji said. "It's no worse than living with Asuka…"

The first squealed and burst out into giggles. The shrill sound of it felt like an ice pick driving into Shinji's eardrum. He grimaced and focused his attention back at the second Ayanami, the one that seemed the sanest out of the three.

"Why am I here?"

"Well you're really not." The Second replied. "Your spirit is here because we must dialogue."

Interesting way to put it that way, Shinji thought.

"About?" Shinji Asked.

"Your role in all of this." The First said inside the car. A small bit of blood had smeared against her lips, most likely from chomping her nails down to the root.

"Role?" Shinji asked confused.

"Things are much larger now than this squabble you have with your father." The Second said. She touched her face, fingers roving over the threads holding her eyes shut. "I wish I could see you."

"He's ugly." The Third said.

"Hush yourself!" The Second said in frustration; "We have three prophecies for you…whether or not they are all true I can not say, that all depends upon my two sisters"

"Any help here?" Shinji asked.

(I will try)

His left eye suddenly exploded in a wash of colours. The three girls on the Bug were vibrating a thick blue aura that wrapped around all of them. An orange glow was dimly hidden inside the Volkswagen. All around him twisted colours of blue and black mixed together with each other to form an ashy sort of blue grey.

"Will it work?" Shinji asked.

(I don't know)

"I see you've brought your friend with you", The third said. The words floated out of her mouth in a thick purplish colour.

(We will have to use that as a truth marker)

"Whatever works" Shinji thought.

"So who starts this fun feast?" he asked

"I do." The second said. She touched her eyes, running her fingers over the threads there. "Beware the one who walks behind the roads."

Shinji frowned. "Making any sense of that?"

(No)

The First pulled her bloody stumps of fingers from her mouth and smiled displaying a mouthful of nails and blood chalked all over her teeth. She blinked twice fast like she was batting away a fly. "My turn, my turn." She propped herself up onto the window-frame of the bug. "All those you carry into your war will perish by your hands."

Shinji took a step away from them. He felt a strange sort of discomfort at what she said. The little girl's eyes rolled madly in their sockets. She's not a little girl, Shinji thought, not by a long shot. Deep down he was starting to worry that maybe her words were right. A sick sense of shame flooded through him and The First smiled displaying the grisly mess in her mouth.

Shinji looked away. "Next." He said quietly. "Let's get this over with."

(Do not let it rattle you, She is crazy anyway)

"That doesn't make it a lie though" Shinji thought.

The Voice was silent

The Third turned towards him, her arms folded over her chest, a gaze of slight distaste planted in her eyes. Her lips curled into a crooked frown that looked more like repulsion than anything else. "Lillith has her mark upon you." Shinji felt an icy blast rip through his left eye. He cupped it and let out a small moan.

"What the hell?" Shinji yelled out loud in pain.

The voice started to babble something in a language that Shinji couldn't understand.

"Is she lying?" Shinji asked.

"I wish I could say." The Second said. "Alas my treacherous mad sister has sewn my eyes shut."

"Yeah, I got that part already" Shinji thought. "Who's Lillith"

(Adam's first wife and equal, She was banished from Eden and turned into a demon for eating the fruit of knowledge. Lillith is the source of all-human life, and all humans inherit her knowledge bringing them science and technology)

"Adam's first wife? You mean like _THE_ Adam?" Shinji thought

(Yes, _THE_ Adam, first angel created by god)

"Our time for dialogue grows short." The Second said.

"I guess you can't explain any of this crap you just told me?" Shinji asked and the Second shook her head. "I wish we could but things are even forbidden to us." She replied.

Shinji nodded. "How do I get out of here?"

The Second smiled. "Like this." She snapped her fingers and suddenly the entire place exploded in blinding white light.

Images flashed through Shinji's head of foreign lands he'd never been too and never would. The face of Yui; Mother came through some of them; it felt like someone had smashed his head all the way through his asshole flipping him inside out. His vision blacked out and pain racked his body in waves. His skin seemed to tear off and all his muscles pumped battery acid, How long that went on he didn't know. Then came a sudden breath taking smack, a stop so quick that it was like a car running into a wall at seventy-five. Immediate pain washed over him like his spine had simply exploded under the pressure. As his body jerked and his snapped his eyes open. Darkness was all around him but it wasn't the same as before. He could make out the faint tracery of Unit 01's plug, and a muted sound of a group of people came from somewhere distant becoming more frantic and loud as the plug hissed when it opened. A voice, his own perhaps.

"Misato?" he fell out of the plug and into her arms, She pulled a blanket over him but it helped little with the alternating blasts of hot and cold that rushed through him.

"I'm very sick" he said shivering but he was back in the real world.

Shinji Vomited

(0000)

_Shinji – Tokyo III (Misato's Hideaway)_

Shinji stood on the cliff edge; resting his body against the metal railing with wind blowing gently in his hair a nice cool breeze; a rare occurrence thanks to post second impact weather systems. He stood watching the City go through the Angel drill; like it always did at this time every day, the incredible feat of sinking an entire city into the geo-front. The protected city, the place where everyone was supposed to be safe, the fortress-state of Japan which had offended heaven so much it had sent seventeen messengers of the gods themselves to destroy it. Shinji's view of the descending city, overlaid with memory of burned out or collapsed buildings and craters, even the Geo-front the once thought impregnable fortress was gone and where the air itself was rank with the dead. He felt like this is some sort of a segment and it's almost done. There are pivotal moments in our lives, things that forever change what's happened and what's about to happen; things that are now or never; because if you don't do them now; you never will. Then Perspective takes a back seat to harsh reality

**Authors Notes: **Here is chapter 6, Part One of Thirty days, focused more on the Shinji's mostly on the formers time inside unit one, part two will focus more on the events taking place over the same time period. This chapter has been re-written four times, I've read over this draft three times for errors but I'm almost certain I missed some since Buzz has dropped of the planet so this has not been pre-read.


End file.
